This Week

We are reading:

• Jeremiah 5-26

• Proverbs 14:25-35, 15:1-16

Summary

Jeremiah echoes many other reluctant prophets we have read about. He complains to God, curses the day he was born, and begs to be released from a calling he never wanted. He keeps going anyway, like the reluctant prophets before him.

This week we’re deep in the indictment of Jerusalem and Judah, yet again. We can recite the charges by now — idolatry, injustice, false worship, ignoring the prophets — and Jeremiah delivers them with the flair of personal anguish. He is grieving the downfall of his culture from right inside it.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 229 — Monday, 8/17 — Jeremiah 5-7, Proverbs 14:25-28

• Day 230 — Tuesday, 8/18 — Jeremiah 8-10, Proverbs 14:29-32

• Day 231 — Wednesday, 8/19 — Jeremiah 11-13, Proverbs 14:33-35

• Day 232 — Thursday, 8/20 — Jeremiah 14-16, Proverbs 15:1-4

• Day 233 — Friday, 8/21 — Jeremiah 17-19, Proverbs 15:5-8

• Day 234 — Saturday, 8/22 — Jeremiah 20-22, Proverbs 15:9-12

• Day 235 — Sunday, 8/23 — Jeremiah 23-26, Proverbs 15:13-16

Day 229 — Monday, 8/17 — Jeremiah 5-7, Proverbs 14:25-28

• In typical God fashion, He tells Jeremiah to go through the streets of Jerusalem and look for even one person who acts justly and seeks truth. If he finds one, the city will be forgiven. He looks among the poor, then among the leaders, but he finds no one.

• The siege of Jerusalem is announced because the people refuse to correct their behavior. Jeremiah tells the people that they cannot expect the temple of the Lord to protect them while they are disobedient.

Day 230 — Tuesday, 8/18 — Jeremiah 8-10, Proverbs 14:29-32

• Jeremiah mourns the persistent rebellion and spiritual sickness of his people, and expresses deep grief over the deceit and falsehood of Judah, leading to impending judgment. He is crushed by the inevitable outcome.

• The contrast between the Creator God and human-made idols, which are sheer delusion, is hammered home for the umpteenth time.

Day 231 — Wednesday, 8/19 — Jeremiah 11-13, Proverbs 14:33-35

• God tells Jeremiah to proclaim the terms of the covenant that the people swore to at Sinai and have been breaking ever since.

• God tells Jeremiah that the men of his hometown are plotting to kill him. Jeremiah asks why the wicked prosper, and God explains that future judgment and restoration is coming.

Day 232 — Thursday, 8/20 — Jeremiah 14-16, Proverbs 15:1-4

• A severe drought hits the land, and God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. The false prophets have been telling the people there will be peace — but God never promised that.

• God tells Jeremiah not to marry, not to have children, not to attend funerals or feasts — his isolation is itself a sign to the people of what is coming, much like the symbolism displayed by other prophets. Jeremiah laments his calling.

Day 233 — Friday, 8/21 — Jeremiah 17-19, Proverbs 15:5-8

• Judah’s sin is permanently carved on their hearts, detailed in the infamous line that the heart is deceitful above all things.

• God uses a potter to explain to Jeremiah: as the potter shapes this vase, so too does God shape His people.

• The breaking of a clay flask symbolizes the total destruction of Jerusale

Day 234 — Saturday, 8/22 — Jeremiah 20-22, Proverbs 15:9-12

• Pashhur the priest has Jeremiah beaten and put in stocks overnight. When he is released, Jeremiah renames him: not Pashhur but Terror on Every Side. Jeremiah’s burden is great — he is ridiculed constantly, yet if he doesn’t speak the words of God burn his heart like a fire in his bones. He cannot stop; his blessing is a curse.

• King Zedekiah asks for help, hoping Jeremiah will call upon God to save him, but Jeremiah tells him to surrender to Babylon. God issues a judgment against the kings.

Day 235 — Sunday, 8/23 — Jeremiah 23-26, Proverbs 15:13-16

• The shepherds who scatter and destroy God’s flock are condemned. God promises a righteous Branch will soon come from David’s line.

• A vision of the good figs (those going into exile) and bad figs (those remaining behind). The word of God and the word of the false prophet are not comparable, no matter how similar they sound from the outside.

• Jeremiah is put on trial for predicting the temple's destruction, but is spared.

What jumped out at you the most you this week? It’s the false prophets for me.

Summary

I dislocated/injured my toe a couple weeks ago and completely lost a week of my life. In this article I’m catching up on the last couple weeks of the Bible study (Weeks 31-32) as well as sending the upcoming week (Week 33), so below is the catch up notes and a look back and ahead at the full book of Ezekiel.

Just a reminder that if you have fallen behind, it’s ok! The summer is hard with vacations and kids and now back to school and I totally get it. Reading the Bible is a marathon, not a sprint — even though it certainly feels like we are sprinting through the year! You can skip weeks and just pick back up whenever you have time, and these writeups can serve as a guide if you need. Now is a GREAT time to jump back in because Ezekiel is BONKERS.

But first, we powered through 5 books in 5 days before landing in one of the strangest, most ethereal and visionary books in the entire Bible.

Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are short, but each serves its own purpose: Joel with locusts and the Spirit, Nahum with the fall of Nineveh, Habakkuk pulls out an audacious argument with God, and Zephaniah with the Day of the Lord.

Baruch is another Deuterocanon text — attributed to Jeremiah’s scribe, actually — and it reads like a prayer of confession from a people who are finally coming to terms with what happened to them and why.

And then we have been reading the book of Ezekiel over the course of a couple weeks. Ezekiel is evocative of some of our discussions early in the Bible study and especially the strange visions and dense imagery of Enoch. Reading Ezekiel makes me wish I had time to make Bible memes and reels on Instagram again.

Week 31

We read:

• Joel 1-3

• Nahum 1-3

• Habakkuk 1-3

• Zephaniah 1-3

• Baruch 1-6

• Ezekiel 1-8

• Proverbs 11:25-31, 12:1-20

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 208 — Monday, 7/27 — Joel 1-3, Proverbs 11:25-28

• Day 209 — Tuesday, 7/28 — Nahum 1-3, Proverbs 11:29-31

• Day 210 — Wednesday, 7/29 — Habakkuk 1-3, Proverbs 12:1-4

• Day 211 — Thursday, 7/30 — Zephaniah 1-3, Proverbs 12:5-8

• Day 212 — Friday, 7/31 — Baruch 1-6, Proverbs 12:9-12

• Day 213 — Saturday, 8/1 — Ezekiel 1-4, Proverbs 12:13-16

• Day 214 — Sunday, 8/2 — Ezekiel 5-8, Proverbs 12:17-20

Day 208 — Monday, 7/27 — Joel 1-3, Proverbs 11:25-28

• Plague is back! A locust plague of catastrophic scale strips the land bare and Joel uses this event to prophecy about the coming Day of the Lord, calling people and priests to lament and fast. The locusts are a preview, foreshadowing.

• God calls for genuine repentance and promises to restore everything the locusts consumed. Joel prophesies an upcoming outpouring of the Spirit — sons and daughters prophesying, old men dreaming, young men seeing visions — which is referenced in the New Testament.

• God promises to gather the hostile nations for judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, restoring Judah and Jerusalem.

Day 209 — Tuesday, 7/28 — Nahum 1-3, Proverbs 11:29-31

• We’re back in Ninevah — a wicked city that angers God over and over. The fall of Nineveh is described in vivid detail, and the verdict explained fully: Nineveh is a city of blood, built on prostitution, theft, oppression, witchcraft.

Day 210 — Wednesday, 7/29 — Habakkuk 1-3, Proverbs 12:1-4

• Habakkuk echoes a universal complaint: God, why do you tolerate injustice in Judah?
  God answers: I am raising up the Babylonians to punish them.
  Habakkuk complains again: but they are more wicked than us, how can a holy God use them as his instrument? He girds his loins and waits for an answer.

• God answers with a vision and the line that will echo through Paul and through the Reformation thousands of years later: “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”

• Habakkuk recounts God’s power in a beautiful poem, detailing His mighty acts and mercy in history. Even though crops might fail, flocks might vanish, and disaster looms, Habakkuk chooses to find his ultimate joy and strength in God.

Day 211 — Thursday, 7/30 — Zephaniah 1-3, Proverbs 12:5-8

• Zephaniah is yet another prophecy of the coming Day of the Lord. A sweeping judgment oracle that begins with Judah and expands to consume everything. The Day of the Lord is near — a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, darkness — and Zephaniah issues a call to seek the Lord before the judgment falls.

Day 212 — Friday, 7/31 — Baruch 1-6, Proverbs 12:9-12

• Baruch — another deuterocanonical text (which again can be found in a Catholic translation on the Bible app, if you need) — is another tale of repentance and God’s wisdom and future restoration. Baruch reads his scroll to the exiles in Babylon and they weep, recognizing their punishment for not listening to God. They fast and send money back to Jerusalem for offerings.

• Baruch illustrates a meditation on Wisdom, echoing Proverbs in asking where Wisdom is found. Certainly not amongst the nations, and not with the wealthy or powerful. Wisdom is with God, and God has given her to Israel as the law. Once again we look forward to a future reconciliation and restoration in the glory of God.

• Baruch ends with the Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch was Jeremiah’s scribe) — a thorough and sharp rebuke against Babylonian idol worship.

Day 213 — Saturday, 8/1 — Ezekiel 1-4, Proverbs 12:13-16

• Ezekiel opens on his 30th birthday with a bang: a storm rolls in with fire and biblically accurate angels. Four human-ish living creatures with four faces (human, lion, ox, and eagle) atop four wheels within wheels, covered in eyes, moving in every direction without turning. Above them, a platform with a throne. On the throne, a figure of radiant fire. The imagery is evocative of Enoch. We’ve been here before. God’s Throne Room.

• God commissions Ezekiel to Israel, warning him they are rebellious and will not listen but he must speak anyway, and only speak what God has told him. God gives Ezekiel a scroll and tells him to eat it. He does. It tastes like honey. We are so back.

• Ezekiel is made a watchman for Israel. If he fails to warn the wicked and they die, their blood is on his hands.

Day 214 — Sunday, 8/2 — Ezekiel 5-8, Proverbs 12:17-20

• Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, divides the hair into thirds: one burned in the city, one struck with a sword, one scattered to the wind. A few hairs tucked into his robe. God tells him that this is what will happen to Jerusalem’s people.

• A prophecy against Israel and then the end is here. Ezekial is taken to Jerusalem and shown a vision. He is shown the temple complex room by room: an idol at the north gate, seventy elders burning incense to images in a darkened room, women weeping for Tammuz (aka Osiris as discussed here), twenty-five men with their backs to the temple worshipping the rising sun.

Yikes.

Week 32

Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 215 — Monday, 8/3 — Ezekiel 9-11, Proverbs 12:21-24

• Day 216 — Tuesday, 8/4 — Ezekiel 12-14, Proverbs 12:25-28

• Day 217 — Wednesday, 8/5 — Ezekiel 15-17, Proverbs 13:1-4

• Day 218 — Thursday, 8/6 — Ezekiel 18-20, Proverbs 13:5-8

• Day 219 — Friday, 8/7 — Ezekiel 21-23, Proverbs 13:9-12

• Day 220 — Saturday, 8/8 — Ezekiel 24-27, Proverbs 13:13-16

• Day 221 — Sunday, 8/9 — Ezekiel 28-30, Proverbs 13:17-20

Day 215 — Monday, 8/3 — Ezekiel 9-11, Proverbs 12:21-24

• God commands the execution of idolaters while those who grieve over the sins of the city are marked for salvation.

• We’re back to the throne room — and we see God is leaving the temple.

• The Spirit lifts Ezekiel back to the exiles in Babylon and he tells them everything he has seen. God promises that though Jerusalem’s residents have scattered his people, he himself will be a sanctuary for them in exile. And one day he will gather them back and give them a new heart and a new spirit.

Day 216 — Tuesday, 8/4 — Ezekiel 12-14, Proverbs 12:25-28

• God tells Ezekiel to pack his bags like a refugee and dig through the wall of his house to leave, acting out the coming captivity and exile.

• The people keep saying the visions are for the distant future, but God warns against idol worshippers and false prophets who proclaim peace when there is none.

Day 217 — Wednesday, 8/5 — Ezekiel 15-17, Proverbs 13:1-4

• Jerusalem is compared to a useless vine, fit only to be thrown in the fire.

• Jerusalem is compared to an adulterous wife — found as an abandoned baby, raised and adorned by God who became her husband, who then used the gifts of gold and oil and fine linen to make idols and offered the children she bore to God as sacrifices to those idols. Yeesh.

• A parable of two eagles and a vine illustrates the failure of Zedekiah breaking his oath to Babylon and turning to Egypt for help, which God holds as a covenant violation.

Day 218 — Thursday, 8/6 — Ezekiel 18-20, Proverbs 13:5-8

• God clarifies individual responsibility in response to an oft quoted proverb — “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” God says the one who sins is the one that dies. A righteous father does not save a wicked son, and a wicked father does not condemn a righteous one.

• God laments Israel’s fallen princes, comparing them to lions. A historical review of Israel’s persistent rebellion — from Egypt through the wilderness through the land — is followed by the promise of eventual restoration.

Day 219 — Friday, 8/7 — Ezekiel 21-23, Proverbs 13:9-12

• Babylon is used as the sword of the Lord, an oracle of coming destruction against Jerusalem. A catalogue of Jerusalem’s sins is presented as a legal indictment: shedding blood, dishonoring parents, oppressing the foreigner, wronging the widow and orphan, despising sacred things, slandering to cause bloodshed, practicing extortion. Jerusalem and Samaria are graphically described as allegorical prostitutes chasing foreign powers and foreign gods.

Day 220 — Saturday, 8/8 — Ezekiel 24-27, Proverbs 13:13-16

• God marks the day the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem, and Ezekiel’s wife dies the same day. He is told not to mourn publicly, not to weep, not to observe any of the customary mourning rites and his silent grief is a sign of the coming loss.

• Oracles of judgment are pronounced against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for rejoicing over Jerusalem’s fall. Tyre is described in a beautiful funeral poem as a magnificent merchant ship sinking into the sea.

Day 221 — Sunday, 8/9 — Ezekiel 28-30, Proverbs 13:17-20

• The king of Tyre has said “I am a god” — whoopsie! God responds at length with a diatribe about a guardian cherub in Eden, covered in precious stones, being driven out from the mount of God with fire.

• Ezekiel has a vision of Egypt, with Pharaoh as a great dragon lying in the Nile, dragged out with hooks, thrown into the desert to be food for birds and beasts. Egypt will be laid waste for forty years, then restored to the least of kingdoms, never again to be a power Israel relies on.

This Week (33)

Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 222 — Monday, 8/10 — Ezekiel 31-33, Proverbs 13:21-25

• Day 223 — Tuesday, 8/11 — Ezekiel 34-36, Proverbs 14:1-4

• Day 224 — Wednesday, 8/12 — Ezekiel 37-39, Proverbs 14:5-8

• Day 225 — Thursday, 8/13 — Ezekiel 40-42, Proverbs 14:9-12

• Day 226 — Friday, 8/14 — Ezekiel 43-45, Proverbs 14:13-16

• Day 227 — Saturday, 8/15 — Ezekiel 46-48, Proverbs 14:17-20

• Day 228 — Sunday, 8/16 — Jeremiah 1-4, Proverbs 14:21-24

Day 222 — Monday, 8/10 — Ezekiel 31-33, Proverbs 13:21-25

• Egypt is compared to a cedar of Lebanon — towering, beautiful, the envy of every tree in the garden of God — cut down for excessive pride. A lament over Pharaoh visualizes Egypt as as a lion among the nations, then as a monster in the seas, dragged out with a net and thrown on the open fields while birds and beasts consume it. A graphic portrayal of Egypt’s downfall into the netherworld with the other pagan nations.

• God reiterates that he has made Ezekiel a watchman for Israel, and if the wicked man does not hear the warning and dies, the watchman is responsible. But if he warns and the man does not turn, the man’s blood is on his own hands. Jerusalem has fallen. But hey, at least he can speak now.

Day 223 — Tuesday, 8/11 — Ezekiel 34-36, Proverbs 14:1-4

• God denounces Israel’s selfish leaders as false shepherds who feed themselves instead of tending the flock, and promises to come personally as the True Shepherd to rescue His flock — more Jesus foreshadowing.

• A mountain is indicted when a prophecy of judgement is issued against Mount Seir, the settlement location of the Edomites (descendants of Esau), for perpetually opposing Israel. But there is hope, as God promises a new heart and a new spirit for the mountains and for His people.

Day 224 — Wednesday, 8/12 — Ezekiel 37-39, Proverbs 14:5-8

• Ezekiel is set down in a valley of dry bones. God tells him to prophesy to the bones and they rattle back to life, the bones coming together, sinew and flesh and skin cover them, the breath enters, and they stand as a vast army. The bones are the house of Israel, cut off and without hope. But God will open their graves and bring them up. (Can God please renew the tendon/joint around my messed up toe? Pls & ty)

• And then we have a prophecy against Gog from the land of Magog, an apocalyptic Biblical reference that is infamous in conspiracy circles. A great northern coalition led by Gog of Magog invades a restored and peaceful Israel. God himself fights for Israel with earthquake and plague and fire and the enemy is destroyed so thoroughly that it takes seven months to bury the dead and seven years to burn the weapons. The nations will know that God is the Lord.

• Fun fact! Gog and Magog were George “Dubya” Bush and George H. W. Bush’s nicknames in Skull & Bones, the not-so-secret society at Yale that they were both members of. Rumor has it that when Prescott Bush, father/grandfather of the Georges, was in Skull & Bones, he and the boys dug up Geronimo’s grave and stole his skull. Neat! I’m sure this is just a normal fun boys club for cool college guys! Also, Dubya once called then French president Jaques Chirac in 2003 and urged him to join the invasion of Iraq because Biblical prophecies from Ezekiel were unfolding. Chirac had to find a theologian and ask what “Gog and Magog” meant. Haha! Cool cool cool! Boys will be boys!

Day 225 — Thursday, 8/13 — Ezekiel 40-42, Proverbs 14:9-12

• Ezekiel’s final vision is a three-chapter guided tour of a new temple with precise and detailed measurements. Kinda feels like we’ve been here before.

Day 226 — Friday, 8/14 — Ezekiel 43-45, Proverbs 14:13-16

• The glory of the Lord returns to fill the temple. Coming from the east, the direction it departed, filling the temple with the same overwhelming radiance as the original vision in the first chapter.

• Instructions for the altar, the sacrifices, the consecration of the priests — everything that was corrupted or neglected must be done correctly this time. The east gate, through which the glory entered, is shut permanently. Land allotments are given for the priests and Levites and the city, with a sacred district set apart at the center. The prince gets land on either side of the sacred district — enough that he no longer needs to seize land from the people, in hopes of circumventing that abuse of power.

Day 227 — Saturday, 8/15 — Ezekiel 46-48, Proverbs 14:17-20

• More regulations are detailed for offerings and festivals, the movement of the prince through the gates, the cooking of the sacrifices.

• Ezekiel sees a life giving river trickling out from under the temple threshold eastward, toward the Dead Sea. Ezekiel wades in and sees that everywhere the river flows, things live. The Dead Sea becomes fresh. Fishermen spread their nets along its shores. Fruit trees grow on both banks, their leaves never withering, their fruit always in season.

• The land is divided among the twelve tribes with a portion for the foreigners who have settled among Israel’s children, treated as native-born. The city’s gates are named for the twelve tribes. And the city’s new name will be: The Lord Is There.

Day 228 — Sunday, 8/16 — Jeremiah 1-4, Proverbs 14:21-24

• And now we are in Jeremiah, another prophet during the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is set apart before he was born, and when called up by God he immediately protests that he is too young. God touches his mouth and tells him he has put his words there. As we have seen over and over, prophets are nearly always reluctant.

• Once again, God indicts Israel for chasing idols. He calls them to return, repent, and warns of upcoming disaster.

Whew. I gotta say, I really love the dramatic imagery in Ezekiel. I always find the imagery of God as the “living water” so fascinating, wish I had time to write a deep dive on that (I do already have half a draft started).

What jumps out at you from these readings? Join the conversation in the comments and the chat!

For those who are new to Capitalism & Glitter, we run a weekly Bible study series for those who are interested in learning about and discussing the content of the Bible. We are reading the entire Bible in a year and discussing everything from world history, human nature, and the spiritual world to the health content and bottom of the rabbit-hole conspiracies.

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This Week

We are reading:

• Isaiah 52-66

• Tobit 1-14

• Proverbs 10:29-32, 11:1-24

Summary

Isaiah ends this week with the Suffering Servant passage, a clear foretelling of Jesus. God’s big promise includes an end to this suffering and a new heaven and earth.

And then we are moving to a bit of a less common choice: Tobit.

Tobit is part of the Deuterocanon — books included in the original Catholic and Orthodox Bibles and omitted in Protestant traditions. Martin Luther and the Reformers wanted to align the Protestant Old Testament canon with the shorter Hebrew Masoretic Text, rather than the longer Greek Septuagint used by the early church. Judaism rejected Tobit in the 2nd century, post Jesus. It’s not totally clear why the Reformers would switch to the Hebrew text 1500 years later when the Jews obviously had a vested interest in denying Jesus as the Messiah for that entire time, but I of course have my theories and that’s one of the reasons we are reading and discussing this text. Tobit specifically has some interesting insight on angelology and demonology.

Whether or not you consider Tobit Scripture, it’s a remarkable piece of ancient Jewish literature written during the exile period, and it illuminates the world we’ve been reading about in a unique way.

I found an illustrated pdf of the Book of Tobit for those with Protestant Bibles who need access to this text. You can also switch to a Catholic translation in the Bible app and have easy digital access to all the texts of the deuterocanon.

And Proverbs, as always, continues to provide comfort and wisdom alongside everything else we are reading.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 201 — Monday, 7/20 — Isaiah 52-55, Proverbs 10:29-32

• Day 202 — Tuesday, 7/21 — Isaiah 56-59, Proverbs 11:1-4

• Day 203 — Wednesday, 7/22 — Isaiah 60-63, Proverbs 11:5-8

• Day 204 — Thursday, 7/23 — Isaiah 64-66, Proverbs 11:9-12

• Day 205 — Friday, 7/24 — Tobit 1-4, Proverbs 11:13-16

• Day 206 — Saturday, 7/25 — Tobit 5-9, Proverbs 11:17-20

• Day 207 — Sunday, 7/26 — Tobit 10-14, Proverbs 11:21-24

Day 201 — Monday, 7/20 — Isaiah 52-55, Proverbs 10:29-32

• Jerusalem is called to awake from captivity and dignify themselves again. The Suffering Servant describes a man who is despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities — yet who will save Israel. This was written 700 years before Jesus.

• God graciously and urgently invites all who are spiritually hungry and thirsty to come to Him. The metaphorical invitation to eat and drink with God comes to full fruition with the Last Supper in the New Testament.

Day 202 — Tuesday, 7/21 — Isaiah 56-59, Proverbs 11:1-4

• The vision keeps expanding. God’s house is for all people and the marginalized are welcomed into his covenant family.

• The people complain that their fasting hasn't drawn God's attention and God reveals that true fasting involves freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, and caring for the poor.

• We once again see how human rebellion has created a massive separation from God and no human can save themselves, requiring God to step in as a “Divine Warrior."

Day 203 — Wednesday, 7/22 — Isaiah 60-63, Proverbs 11:5-8

• The Servant declares He is anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to bring “good news to the poor”, heal the brokenhearted, and announce the year of the Lord’s favor.

• A brilliant picture of the restoration of Jerusalem: The glory of the Lord will rise upon the city, and the nations and kings of the earth will bring their wealth into it. God declares that Jerusalem will no longer be called “Forsaken” or “Desolate,” but rather “Hephzibah” (My Delight is in Her) and “Beulah” (Married).

Day 204 — Thursday, 7/23 — Isaiah 64-66, Proverbs 11:9-12

• God’s culminating response is the new creation vision: a new heavens and a new earth.

• Isaiah ends with a contrast between the ultimate destinies of the righteous and the wicked. God emphasizes that He values a humble and contrite heart over external religious sacrifices. While it has been intermittently dire throughout, the book ends on a universal note, stating that all of humanity will ultimately come to worship God, while the rebellious will face eternal judgment.

Day 205 — Friday, 7/24 — Tobit 1-4, Proverbs 11:13-16

• And now for something completely different (it’s not that different): Tobit. Tobit is part of the Deuterocanon, also called the Apocrypha — books included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, not in most Protestant ones. Our reading plan includes it as historically significant Jewish literature from the exile period, as well as exploring why this particular text may have been left out of the Protestant canon.

• A devout Israelite living in exile in Nineveh, Tobit keeps burying the bodies of executed Jews despite it being illegal and dangerous. He is left with only his wife and son. Then he goes blind, his wife has to support them, and he prays to die.

• Simultaneously, in a city far away, a young woman named Sarah has had seven husbands, each killed by the demon Asmodeus on their wedding night before the marriage could be consummated. She also prays to die.

• Both prayers are heard in the same moment and God sends the angel Raphael to intercede. He will heal Tobit’s eyes and arrange the marriage of Sarah to Tobit’s son, Tobiah.

Day 206 — Saturday, 7/25 — Tobit 5-9, Proverbs 11:17-20

• Raphael appears to Tobiah in disguise, presenting himself as a traveling companion who knows the road to Media. Tobit interrogates him about his family lineage before agreeing.

• A great fish leaps from the river and tries to swallow Tobiah’s foot. Raphael tells Tobiah to keep the organs as they make good medicine, and that if he burns the heart and liver the smoke will drive out demons, and the gall can heal his father’s eyesight. (I should link to Cod Liver Oil here lol.)

• Tobiah arrives, meets Sarah, and Raphael negotiates the marriage. On their wedding night he burns the fish organs as instructed. The demon flees to Egypt, Raphael follows and binds him. Tobiah and Sarah pray together before they sleep. Her father digs a grave, just in case, but both survive the night.

Day 207 — Sunday, 7/26 — Tobit 10-14, Proverbs 11:21-24

• Tobiah returns home with his bride, the money he was sent to collect, and the cure for his father’s blindness.

• Raphael reveals himself to be an angel and tells them that he heard Tobit and Sarah’s prayers and interceded with God (a scriptural example of the saints and angels hearing our prayers and interceding on our behalf).

• Before he dies, Tobit’s final instructions to his son are leave Nineveh, because it will be destroyed. He dies at 112, having lived his final years with gratitude and at peace.

I so appreciate all of those who are continuing the conversation in the comments and the chat! I love hearing what’s resonating with you all each week.

This Week

We are reading:

• Isaiah 25-51

• Proverbs 10:1-28

Summary

Last week, Isaiah opened with sweeping judgment oracles and some of the most dramatic prophetic imagery in the Bible.

This week we move through Isaiah’s “Little Apocalypse” into passages about God as shepherd and comforter. Isaiah is long, and many scholars believe it was written by 2 or 3 authors. The tone shifts dramatically in this section toward restoration, and at the end of the week the famous Servant Songs begin.

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If you’d like to support us, please consider a paid subscription.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 194 — Monday, 7/13 — Isaiah 25-28, Proverbs 10:1-4

• Day 195 — Tuesday, 7/14 — Isaiah 29-32, Proverbs 10:5-8

• Day 196 — Wednesday, 7/15 — Isaiah 33-36, Proverbs 10:9-12

• Day 197 — Thursday, 7/16 — Isaiah 37-40, Proverbs 10:13-16

• Day 198 — Friday, 7/17 — Isaiah 41-44, Proverbs 10:17-20

• Day 199 — Saturday, 7/18 — Isaiah 45-48, Proverbs 10:21-24

• Day 200 — Sunday, 7/19 — Isaiah 49-51, Proverbs 10:25-28

Day 194 — Monday, 7/13 — Isaiah 25-28, Proverbs 10:1-4

• After a week of judgment, today we open in the midst of Isaiah’s “Little Apocalypse” — a section detailing sweeping, cosmic events that echo from creation and mirror Revelation.

• The warning has been issued, and now God is preparing a banquet for the faithful remnant — a feast for all nations on His holy mountain, removing the shroud of death, and wiping every tear.

• God promises protection and ressurection for the righteous, detailing how He will defeat Leviathan, the sea serpent.

Day 195 — Tuesday, 7/14 — Isaiah 29-32, Proverbs 10:5-8

• Isaiah issues a message to Judah — for the sin of making a treaty with Egypt instead of trusting in the Lord, Jerusalem will be besieged, but God will humble them and deliver them from spiritual blindness.

• A prophecy is given of a future king reigning in righteousness, and a rushing of the Spirit on a parched land — foreshadowing the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Day 196 — Wednesday, 7/15 — Isaiah 33-36, Proverbs 10:9-12

• These readings contrast God’s fierce judgment with the Savior to come — the desert blooming, streams in the wasteland, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping, the mute singing. Jesus later quotes this passage in Isaiah to show that He has come to redeem the nations.

Day 197 — Thursday, 7/16 — Isaiah 37-40, Proverbs 10:13-16

• Hezekiah prays for help against the Assyrians and God grants it, protecting Jerusalem and killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

• Hezekiah becomes deathly ill and Isaiah tells him to get his affairs in order as he will not survive. He prays for healing and God grants him 15 more years of life, and causes the sun’s shadow to move backwards on the sundial of Ahaz as a sign of healing.

• The King of Babylon sends an envoy to Hezekiah to wish him well after he recovered from illness; Hezekiah inexplicably shows the Babylonians all the treasure in the Kingdom of Judah. Isaiah prophecies that Judah will one day fall to Babylon.

• Chapter 40 sets a new tone, written by another author about 150 years later, issued as a great reassurance that comfort is coming for God’s people.

Day 198 — Friday, 7/17 — Isaiah 41-44, Proverbs 10:17-20

• God makes his case directly to the nations in a courtroom scene — challenging the idols to predict anything, to do anything, to explain anything — but they are silent.

• God promises to redeem his people while continuing to mock false idols and those who can’t even bring themselves to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

Day 199 — Saturday, 7/18 — Isaiah 45-48, Proverbs 10:21-24

• God names the Persion King Cyrus as his anointed shepherd who will authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Cyrus wont be born for another 150 years, which makes this prophecy (and the book of Isaiah as a whole) one of the most astonishing to modern day historians.

• A poetic downfall is prophesied for Babylon, with their idols carried off into captivity while God’s people are delivered from Babylon to freedom.

Day 200 — Sunday, 7/19 — Isaiah 49-51, Proverbs 10:25-28

• The Lord’s Servant is commissioned and begins four famous “servant songs” in Isaiah. The identity of this servant has been the topic of discussion amongst theologians for centuries — is it the collective of Israel, or Jesus? Both? This, to me, seems like another passage that is purposefully ambiguous enough to apply to multiple contexts.

• It is hard not to read several of the Servant passages as foreshadowing Jesus: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”

• God closes by calling his people to look back at Abraham and Sarah — two people from whom an entire nation came — as evidence that he can do it again, from nothing.

What’s the most striking to you this week? Join us in the comments and the chat to discuss!

This Week

We are reading:

• 2 Chronicles 35-36

• Isaiah 1-24

• Psalms 145

• Proverbs 7, 8:1-36, 9:1-18

Summary

This week we close out 2 Chronicles and begin Isaiah, and we finish Psalms and move back to Proverbs.

And we have officially crossed the halfway mark through our Bible in a Year Plan! Congratulations to those of you hanging in there week after week. You are certainly among God’s favorites <3

I’m thrilled to be moving on and starting Isaiah, if I’m honest. Isaiah is the prophet whose predictions foretell of Jesus the most, more than any other book in the Old Testament. AND we get the origin story of Satan. Isaiah pulls us out of reading a chronological history book and into the theological underpinnings of our world.

The first twenty-four chapters of Isaiah being covered this week are largely oracles of judgment against Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations, interwoven with messianic prophecy. A nice poetic pick-me-up following the centuries of terrible kings we just endured.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 187 — Monday, 7/6 — 2 Chronicles 35-36, Psalm 145

• Day 188 — Tuesday, 7/7 — Isaiah 1-4, Proverbs 7

• Day 189 — Wednesday, 7/8 — Isaiah 5-8, Proverbs 8:1-21

• Day 190 — Thursday, 7/9 — Isaiah 9-12, Proverbs 8:22-36

• Day 191 — Friday, 7/10 — Isaiah 13-16, Proverbs 9:1-6

• Day 192 — Saturday, 7/11 — Isaiah 17-20, Proverbs 9:7-12

• Day 193 — Sunday, 7/12 — Isaiah 21-24, Proverbs 9:13-18

Day 187 — Monday, 7/6 — 2 Chronicles 35-36, Psalm 145

• Chronicles wraps up with a summary of why Israel fell: the people kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words, scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord was brought against his people.

• Chronicles ends its account of Judah’s fall with the decree of Cyrus king of Persia, allowing the exiles to return and rebuild the temple.

Day 188 — Tuesday, 7/7 — Isaiah 1-4, Proverbs 7

• Isaiah begins like a prosecutor’s opening statement, with the prophet representing God taking his own people to court.

• The charges are social and ritual — meaningless offerings, hands full of blood, oppression of the widow and orphan. The worship continues but the justice doesn’t, and God says he cannot stand the worship without the justice.

Day 189 — Wednesday, 7/8 — Isaiah 5-8, Proverbs 8:1-21

• The parable of the vineyard detailing how God planted a vineyard, tended it, expected good grapes, got wild ones is representative of Israel, and harkens back to Noah, while foreshadowing the same metaphor Jesus uses in the Gospels. It’s simply incredible how these books with different authors thousands of years apart tie to each other so completely.

• And then we get a glimpse of God’s Throne Room. We haven’t been here since Enoch! The mighty seraphim, with 6 wings, who use fire (hot coals) to cleanse the sins of man (Isaiah). Idk sounds like theological support for purgatory to me.

• Chapter 7 introduces Immanuel, a savior conceived of a virgin, once again foreshadowing Jesus. Matthew later quotes this passage in reference to Jesus. The original context is a near-term political sign to Ahaz while the New Testament reads a longer trajectory into it.

• Chapter 8 contains a bit of sharp relevance for the Capitalism and Glitter crowd: The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ‘Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear.’”

Day 190 — Thursday, 7/9 — Isaiah 9-12, Proverbs 8:22-36

• Nevertheless, there is hope in the coming Messiah — a branch from David’s line, emerging out of Galilee.

• Proverbs 8 is Lady Wisdom speaking about her own origins: “I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.” She was there at creation, beside God as a craftsman. It is interesting to ponder the relationship between God and wisdom, personified, as a separate entity — one highly sought after by esoteric mystery schools.

Day 191 — Friday, 7/10 — Isaiah 13-16, Proverbs 9:1-6

• Isaiah pivots to oracles against the nations — Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab — while revealing the origin story of Satan. Here we read the infamous passage about the king of Babylon falling from heaven, which later tradition applied to Satan’s original fall. Once again the text has near term references that echo a much bigger picture.

Day 192 — Saturday, 7/11 — Isaiah 17-20, Proverbs 9:7-12

• Oracles against Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt. The discussion around Ethiopia is unusual as it ends not with destruction but with gifts being brought to Jerusalem. I find this particularly interesting given how the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has preserved biblical texts that have been lost to the western world. The commentary on Egypt is even more surprising, stating that Egypt, Israel’s original oppressor, will become a worshipper of Israel’s God.

• The nations surrounding Israel are all, in Isaiah’s vision, ultimately caught up in the same story — not as permanent enemies but as peoples with their own trajectories toward or away from God.

Day 193 — Sunday, 7/12 — Isaiah 21-24, Proverbs 9:13-18

• More oracles — the Desert by the Sea (Babylon), Dumah (Edom), Arabia, and Jerusalem itself.

• Chapter 24 begins the apocalyptic climax of this opening section — the earth laid waste, scattered, the earth staggers like a drunk, its transgression lies heavy on it, the floodgates of heaven are opened. It is the covenant curses of Deuteronomy extended to cosmic scale. All of creation feels the consequences of faithlessness.

• And yet, at the end of the devastation, a remnant singing from the west and the east and the sea, glorifying God. The darkness and destruction is real, and the song of God’s glory persists anyway.

What are you thinking about this week — Isaiah's call, the Immanuel prophecy, the origin of Satan, or Lady Wisdom at creation? Let me know below.

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Last Week

Whoops! I missed last week. But we read:

• 2 Kings 7-17

• Hosea 1-14

• Amos 1-9

• Psalms 127, 101, 103, 108, 109, 110, 122

This Week

We are reading:

• Jonah 1-4

• Micah 1-7

• 2 Kings 18-25

• 2 Chronicles 29-34

• Psalms 124, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144

Summary

I missed last week. We continued reading through 2 Kings and got insight from two prophets: Hosea and Amos. The northern kingdom of Israel continued its slow-motion collapse despite the prophets who were trying to stop it.

We open this week with the most famous reluctant prophet in the Bible: Jonah. A man so opposed to his assignment that he tries to sail away in the opposite direction and promptly gets swallowed by a whale — who takes him exactly where he’s supposed to go.

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Last Week

My quick thoughts on last week:

2 Kings 7-17

• We witness the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel with the common pattern — anointed kingship, turning away from God, corruption leads to failure.

• Jehu is anointed king of Israel with a specific mandate to destroy the house of Ahab, killing King Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, avenging the deaths of the prophets that Jezebel had killed.

• Joash repairs the temple, which had fallen into disrepair.

• Elisha dies — and the power of the prophet continues from the grave.

• Finally, Assyria invades, Samaria falls after a three-year siege, and the people of Israel are deported. The northern ten tribes disappear from history as a coherent nation.

Hosea

• God tells Hosea to marry a woman who will be unfaithful to him and the marriage, as told through this book, becomes the metaphor for Israel, an unfaithful wife, with God as the husband who keeps taking her back.

Amos

• Amos is a shepherd and a fig farmer from Judah who goes north to Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II and starts preaching about God’s judgment on Israel’s neighbors before turning to issue God’s judgment on Israel itself.

• Amos closes with five visions — locusts, fire, a plumb line, a basket of ripe fruit, God at the altar.

This Week

Here is the daily breakdown for this week from our annual plan:

• Day 180 — Monday, 6/29 — Jonah 1-4, Psalm 124

• Day 181 — Tuesday, 6/30 — Micah 1-4, Psalm 138

• Day 182 — Wednesday, 7/1 — Micah 5-7, Psalm 139

• Day 183 — Thursday, 7/2 — 2 Kings 18-21, Psalm 140

• Day 184 — Friday, 7/3 — 2 Kings 22-25, Psalm 141

• Day 185 — Saturday, 7/4 — 2 Chronicles 29-31, Psalm 143

• Day 186 — Sunday, 7/5 — 2 Chronicles 32-34, Psalm 144

Day 180 — Monday, 6/29 — Jonah 1-4, Psalm 124

• Just an all around great story with Jonah and the Whale. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh — capital of Assyria, Israel’s greatest enemy — and preach. Jonah says no thanks and boards a ship going the other direction.

• God sends a massive storm and the sailors find out Jonah is the cause and throw him overboard. He is swallowed by a “great fish.” He prays from inside it and is deposited on shore three days later.

• God tells him again: go to Nineveh. This time he goes, gives a brief sermon, and the entire city repents.

• Jonah is furious. This is what he was afraid of. He knew God would forgive them and he did not want that for Nineveh. He sits outside the city hoping God will destroy it anyway. God grows a plant to shade him, then kills the plant, and Jonah is more upset about the plant than the city. The book ends with God’s question hanging unanswered: “Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh?”

• Jonah is the rare prophetic book where the prophet is the problem. It’s less about Nineveh than about what kind of God this is, and whether Jonah can accept it. I have a lot of empathy for Jonah because I, too, believe cities full of sinners deserve the wrath of God. But it is not I but God who decides who gets the Ninevah treatment and who gets Sodom and Gomorrahed.

Day 181 — Tuesday, 6/30 — Micah 1-4, Psalm 138

• Micah is yet another prophet warning Israel of the coming consequences of their widespread corruption.

• Micah details how the leaders, priests, and false prophets are exploiting the poor, taking land by force, and turning religion into a profit-making enterprise. He foretells that as a consequence, Samaria will be destroyed and Jerusalem and its temple will be reduced to ruins.

• He issues this edict not without hope, though. Micah pictures a day when all nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord, weapons will be beaten into plowshares, and everyone will be under their own vine and fig tree.

Day 182 — Wednesday, 7/1 — Micah 5-7, Psalm 139

• Chapter 5 is yet another of the many predictions of Jesus as the Messiah, prophesying that He will be born in Bethlehem.

• God brings a formal "lawsuit" against His people, summing up His ultimate requirements: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.

Day 183 — Thursday, 7/2 — 2 Kings 18-21, Psalm 140

• We finally get a good king! Hezekiah is one of the best kings in the entire Books of Kings. Removes the high places, smashes the Asherah poles, even destroys the bronze serpent Moses made in the wilderness because people had started burning incense to it.

• Hezekiah gets sick and is told he will die. He prays, weeping bitterly, and God gives him fifteen more years.

• His son Manasseh undoes everything. Rebuilds the high places, erects altars to Baal, sacrifices his own children in fire, practices divination, fills Jerusalem with innocent blood. The longest-reigning king of Judah — fifty-five years — and the one apparently most responsible for the eventual fall of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, our legacies are not just our own.

Day 184 — Friday, 7/3 — 2 Kings 22-25, Psalm 141

• Josiah becomes king at eight years old and reigns well. He issues sweeping reform, he destroys every altar, every high place, every idol, every shrine to foreign gods across the entire land. He rediscovers the Book of the Law. He reinstates the Passover for the first time since the judges.

• Josiah dies in battle. His son Jehoahaz reigns three months, taken to Egypt. Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah follow in quick succession, Babylon tightening its grip each time.

• Finally, Jerusalem falls. The temple is burned. The walls are broken down. The leading people are deported to Babylon. The bronze pillars, the basins, the lampstands — everything Solomon made — are broken up and carried away to Babylon. The kingdom of Judah is over.

Day 185 — Saturday, 7/4 — 2 Chronicles 29-31, Psalm 143

• Hey, didn’t we just read this? Chronicles’ version of Hezekiah is even more expansive than Kings.

Day 186 — Sunday, 7/5 — 2 Chronicles 32-34, Psalm 144

• Manasseh’s reign gets a bit more exposition in Chronicles than in Kings — Chronicles includes his captivity in Babylon, his repentance there, his prayer, and God’s restoration of him to Jerusalem.

• Josiah’s reform in Chronicles adds a detail Kings omits: Josiah begins his personal spiritual seeking at sixteen, and begins the physical reform at twenty, before the scroll of Law is even found. The scroll confirms and accelerates what was already in motion. The man was looking for something before he found the text. I love this detail because, in my personal experience, God will move us to find something before we think we are ready, before we even know what we are looking for.

HALLELUJAH we are just about finished with Kings and Chronicles! I am so excited to start Isaiah next week! #nokings

What are your thoughts on this week or last week’s readings? Drop them below or join us in the chat! Thanks to everyone keeping the conversation going.

This Week

We are reading:

• 2 Chronicles 13-28

• 2 Kings 1-6

• Song of Solomon 5-8

• Psalms 69, 70, 72

Summary

This week we’re back to Chronicles, watching the southern kingdom of Judah continue to cycle through a series of kings. They repeat the same pattern yet somehow never learn the lessons — faith in God brings stability, compromise brings war and loss, and repentance brings restoration. Over and over again.

One of the most interesting things that keeps coming up in Chronicles this week is the idea that physical illness (foot disease, intestinal disease, leprosy) results from a separation from God.

And then we’re back in Kings, where Elijah disappears in a chariot of fire leaving Elisha to pick up where he left off.

And we finish Song of Solomon, wrapping up the Bible’s most erotic book. A poetic testament to what it means to be truly devoted and committed in love — and giving us some insight into why some of the Israelite kings kept getting distracted by foreign women.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 166 — Monday, 6/15 — 2 Chronicles 13-15, Song of Solomon 5

• Day 167 — Tuesday, 6/16 — 2 Chronicles 16-18, Song of Solomon 6

• Day 168 — Wednesday, 6/17 — 2 Chronicles 19-21, Song of Solomon 7

• Day 169 — Thursday, 6/18 — 2 Chronicles 22-25, Song of Solomon 8

• Day 170 — Friday, 6/19 — 2 Chronicles 26-28, Psalm 69

• Day 171 — Saturday, 6/20 — 2 Kings 1-3, Psalm 70

• Day 172 — Sunday, 6/21 — 2 Kings 4-6, Psalm 72

Day 166 — Monday, 6/15 — 2 Chronicles 13-15, Song of Solomon 5

• Abijah, Rehoboam’s son, goes to war against the northern kingdom and wins despite being outnumbered two to one.

• His son Asa is one of Judah’s genuinely good kings. He removes the foreign altars, smashes the sacred stones, commands Judah to seek God.

Day 167 — Tuesday, 6/16 — 2 Chronicles 16-18, Song of Solomon 6

• Asa’s late reign is yet another cautionary tale: when faced with another military threat, he makes a militarily good decision, but forsakes his reliance on God. He then develops a foot disease and once again seeks only physicians, not God, and he dies. The idea that physical disease stems from a disconnection from God is, of course, not lost on me.

• His son Jehoshaphat is another good king who makes the mistake of allying himself with Ahab of Israel, which costs him.

Day 168 — Wednesday, 6/17 — 2 Chronicles 19-21, Song of Solomon 7

• Jehoshaphat survives the battle but gets a rebuke from another prophet on his return. The alliances with unfaithful kings come at the expense of the credibility of Judah’s good rulers — tale as old as time, a classic Israelite move.

• A vast coalition of Moabites and Ammonites and others marches on Judah. Jehoshaphat’s response is to call a fast and pray publicly in the temple court. They march out the next morning with the choir leading the army, singing praise, and find their enemies have destroyed each other — thanks be to God.

• His son Jehoram takes the throne and his first act is to kill all his brothers. He had married into Ahab’s family and he reigns poorly. A letter arrives from Elijah with a specific prophecy about his death. He dies of a painful intestinal disease, two years exactly as described. Once again we see physical ailments resulting as a disconnection from God.

• Song of Solomon continues to contrast our readings of wars and illness and death with borderline erotica.

Day 169 — Thursday, 6/18 — 2 Chronicles 22-25, Song of Solomon 8

• We learn about more kings and the violence accelerates. Ahaziah is killed by Jehu. His mother Athaliah — Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter — seizes the throne and tries to kill all the royal heirs. A nurse hides the infant Joash in the temple for six years. Athaliah rules Judah for six years not knowing there is a legitimate heir hidden in the house of God.

• At year seven, the priest Jehoiada brings Joash out, crowns him, and Athaliah is executed. The crowd tears down the temple of Baal. Joash reigns well as long as Jehoiada is alive — but when the old priest dies, Joash reverses course, abandons the temple, and has Jehoiada’s own son Zechariah stoned to death when he prophesies against him. Joash is then assassinated by his own officials.

• Amaziah follows — good at first, then captures ten thousand Edomites and brings their gods back to worship — despite the fact that their gods clearly couldn’t save them.

Day 170 — Friday, 6/19 — 2 Chronicles 26-28, Psalm 69

• Uzziah reigns fifty-two years and is mostly faithful. But then he enters the temple to burn incense, which was the priests’ role alone. The priests confront him and Uzziah, furious, erupts in leprosy on the spot. He lives as a leper until he dies, cut off from the temple he tried to commandeer.

• His grandson Ahaz is one of Judah’s worst kings. He sacrifices his own children in fire, sets up high places everywhere, and when invaded strips the temple to bribe Assyria for help. Assyria does not help. In his time of troubles, he becomes even less faithful to the Lord.

Day 171 — Saturday, 6/20 — 2 Kings 1-3, Psalm 70

• We’re back to Kings, and back with Elijah. Two companies of fifty soldiers come to summon him to Ahab’s son Ahaziah. Instead, he calls fire down on them. A third captain comes and falls on his knees: “Man of God, please have respect for my life.” Elijah goes with him.

• While walking with Elisha, Elijah strikes the water of the Jordan with his cloak and it parts. They cross the river. Elijah asks what Elisha wants before he’s taken, and Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Then the chariot of fire and a whirlwind come to take Elijah. Elisha picks up the cloak, strikes the water, it parts, and he crosses back. The spirit of Elijah is now resting on Elisha.

• Elisha’s first miracles follow immediately, with him healing a spring and dealing harshly with a group of youths who mock him.

Day 172 — Sunday, 6/21 — 2 Kings 4-6, Psalm 72

• Elisha’s ministry is extraordinary and strange. A widow’s oil multiplied until she has enough to pay her debts. A wealthy woman in Shunem hosts him faithfully and he promises her a son — she’s barren and her husband is old. A son is born, and then dies, and Elisha brings him back to life. A pot of poisoned stew is made edible. A hundred men are fed with twenty loaves of bread.

• Then Naaman, commander of Aram’s army, comes to Elisha on the advice of an Israelite slave girl, in order to heal his leprosy. Elisha sends a messenger to tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times. He does, and he is healed — convinced now that there is no God other than the God of Israel.

• An iron axhead falls in the Jordan and Elisha makes it float so they can retrieve it. Then the Arameans come to capture Elisha, but they are instead blinded and led straight to the capital of Israel. Instead of slaughtering the enemy army, Israel feeds them and sends them home — for a while. They ultimately come back and siege the capital, plunging Israel into another devastating famine.

What thoughts do you have on this week’s readings? We’re almost halfway through our Bible in a Year study — are you struggling to keep up (like me), or are you still full steam ahead?

This Week

We are reading:

• Mark 11-16

• 1 Kings 12-22

• 2 Chronicles 10-12

• Psalms 67, 68, 22

• Song of Solomon 1-4

Summary

This week we open with the final week of Jesus’s life in the conclusion of the Book of Mark.

Interestingly, the oldest manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark ended at 16:8 — with the women fleeing from the tomb in fear. You’ll notice your Bible continues to Mark 16:20. Mark was the first written Gospel, and Biblical scholars widely agree that these passages were added later, likely by a scribe who was familiar with the later events (Mark 16:8-20 discusses events covered elsewhere in the New Testament, particularly the Book of Acts).

When Mark was first written, the author likely intended the ending to be a somber look at how we humans fall short of doing right by Jesus. The later Gospel writers ease up a bit on criticizing human failures in the face of God. While some people point to this as evidence of the Bible being manipulated, I personally don’t see anything particularly conspiratorial in the added passages — it just reads like a later Christian trying to round out the Book of Mark in hindsight with a more complete ending.

Then we’re back in 1 Kings, and the kingdom that Solomon built is about to split in two. His son Rehoboam makes one catastrophically arrogant decision and loses ten tribes in an afternoon. The north and south will never reunite. But, at least we get to meet Elijah.

The Song of Solomon threaded through the second half of the week is its own thing entirely — ancient love poetry, read in Jewish tradition as an allegory of God’s love for Israel, in Christian tradition as Christ and the church. Or, you know, a poem about two people in love. Possibly all three at once.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 159 — Monday, 6/8 — Mark 11-12, Psalm 67

• Day 160 — Tuesday, 6/9 — Mark 13-14, Psalm 68

• Day 161 — Wednesday, 6/10 — Mark 15-16, Psalm 22

• Day 162 — Thursday, 6/11 — 1 Kings 12-15, Song of Solomon 1

• Day 163 — Friday, 6/12 — 1 Kings 16-19, Song of Solomon 2

• Day 164 — Saturday, 6/13 — 1 Kings 20-22, Song of Solomon 3

• Day 165 — Sunday, 6/14 — 2 Chronicles 10-12, Song of Solomon 4

Day 159 — Monday, 6/8 — Mark 11-12, Psalm 67

• Jesus enters Jerusalem on what we now know as Palm Sunday

• Jesus curses a fig tree that has no fruit, and clears the temple by overturning the money changers’ tables and driving out the merchants.

• The religious authorities are looking for a way to kill Jesus and He is now operating entirely in public.

• Jesus watches a rich person make a large donation and a poor widow put in two small coins and says she gave more than all of them — a commentary on the true meaning of giving and generosity.

Day 160 — Tuesday, 6/9 — Mark 13-14, Psalm 68

• Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives and describes for his disciples the destruction of the temple and the end of the age. This prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem — which is likely when the Book of Mark was written, and why the author had a more apocalyptic view when writing his Gospel.

• A woman anoints Jesus’s head with expensive perfume. The disciples are indignant about the waste, but Jesus says what she has done is beautiful. So you heard it straight from Jesus — aesthetics in worship and in life have genuine intrinsic value.

• We re-read another telling of the Last Supper, Gethsemane, and the arrest. Peter was the most likely source material for the Book of Mark so this re-telling of Peter’s three denials, and his reaction at the end of breaking down and weeping, are details that probably came directly from Peter.

Day 161 — Wednesday, 6/10 — Mark 15-16, Psalm 22

• Psalm 22 on the same day as the crucifixion account in Mark is no accident. It was written by David a thousand years earlier and it references the crucifixion in details that are impossible to explain away — “they pierce my hands and my feet... they divide my garments among them.”

• Even with the additional ending to Mark, this Gospel ends abruptly and in a bit of despair — which is probably what the author truly felt in 70 AD after the destruction of the temple.

Day 162 — Thursday, 6/11 — 1 Kings 12-15, Song of Solomon 1

• Solomon is dead and his son Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be confirmed as king.

• The people send Jeroboam to ask Rehoboam to lighten the forced labor assigned by Solomon. He consults the elders, who tell him to listen. He consults his young friends, who tell him to come back harder. He listens to his friends — and loses ten tribes in a day. The United Kingdom of Israel lasts exactly three reigns.

• Jeroboam becomes king of the northern ten tribes (Israel) and immediately makes two golden calves, telling the people these are the gods who brought them out of Egypt, and sets up unauthorized worship sites so the people won’t travel south to Jerusalem. Hmm, I feel like we’ve read this story before.

Day 163 — Friday, 6/12 — 1 Kings 16-19, Song of Solomon 2

• The northern kingdom rapidly cycles through a half a dozen kings (hey! that’s the name of the book!), eventually landing on Ahab. Ahab marries the infamous Jezebel, a Phoenician princess who brings her gods with her, and the text says Ahab did more to provoke the God of Israel than all the kings before him.

• Elijah appears before Ahab and announces a drought. Then he disappears into the wilderness and God sends ravens to feed him.

• Elijah goes to Ahab and challenges 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Jezebel on Mount Carmel. The first to get their god to produce fire wins. The prophets of Baal shout and dance and cut themselves all morning, but get nothing in return. Elijah mocks them, saying, “Call your god louder, maybe he’s on vacation or in the bathroom.” Elijah drenches his altar in water three times and then prays one straightforward prayer, and fire falls and consumes everything. Looks like the real God won.

• Then Jezebel sends a message to Elijah: you’ll be dead by tomorrow. Elijah runs into the wilderness and asks God to let him die. Even a guy who just called fire from heaven is overwhelmed with worldly threats. God sends an angel with food instead.

Day 164 — Saturday, 6/13 — 1 Kings 20-22, Song of Solomon 3

• Two wars against Aram, both won by Israel despite being the smaller force — the text is explicit that God is engineering the victories to show that he is not merely a god of the hills.

• Ahab and Jezebel orchestrate a takeover of Naboth’s vineyard when he won’t sell his ancestral land; Elijah shows up immediately to issue divine justice from God.

• Ahab’s response is genuine repentance and God delays the judgment a generation.

• Ahab wants to retake Ramoth-Gilead. Four hundred prophets tell him he’ll succeed, but one prophet notorious for prophesying bad things for Ahab tells him otherwise. Ahab dies in battle, shot by an arrow between the sections of his armor. Dogs lick his blood from the chariot, exactly as Elijah said. Whew.

Day 165 — Sunday, 6/14 — 2 Chronicles 10-12, Song of Solomon 4

• We’re bouncing around between books because we are reading the Bible chronologically — so, fittingly, we’re jumping back to Chronicles, which covers the kingdom split we just read about in Kings, but then pivots to focus almost entirely on Judah, the southern kingdom. The north largely disappears from Chronicles’ story. The Chronicler’s interest is the line of David and the temple in Jerusalem.

• Rehoboam fortifies cities throughout Judah and then, once he’s established, abandons the law. The Egyptian pharaoh Shishak invades and takes the treasures of the temple, including the gold Solomon accumulated. Rehoboam replaces them with bronze shields.

• Song of Solomon is steaming up, I don’t even know what to say about it.

What did this week leave you thinking about? Mark's extra ending, Elijah saying Baal was probably unavailable on the toilet, Song of Solomon’s borderline erotica, or something else entirely? Tell me below or in the chat!

This Week

We are reading:

• Ecclesiastes 1-12

• Mark 1-10

• Psalms 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 23, 29

Summary

This week we read Ecclesiastes and find Jesus again in the Gospel of Mark.

Ecclesiastes is believed to have been written by Solomon, written from the perspective of a man who had everything — wisdom, wealth, women, power — and learned it was all vanity. It’s as relevant today as it has ever been.

And then we’re keeping up with Jesus again reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest, fastest-paced Gospel — it’s like a catalogue of the greatest hits. No birth narrative, no genealogy, Jesus just shows up and starts healing people.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 152 — Monday, 6/1 — Ecclesiastes 1-6, Psalm 8

• Day 153 — Tuesday, 6/2 — Ecclesiastes 7-12, Psalm 9

• Day 154 — Wednesday, 6/3 — Mark 1-2, Psalm 11

• Day 155 — Thursday, 6/3 — Mark 3-4, Psalm 20

• Day 156 — Friday, 6/5 — Mark 5-6, Psalm 21

• Day 157 — Saturday, 6/6 — Mark 7-8, Psalm 23

• Day 158 — Sunday, 6/7 — Mark 9-10, Psalm 29

Day 152 — Monday, 6/1 — Ecclesiastes 1-6, Psalm 8

• Solomon catalogues everything he tried — wisdom, pleasure, work, accumulation — and finding it all hollow.

• I know these chapters are dark but I find them oddly comforting. Our troubles, while they may be hard, are not new. Suffering (especially with chronic illness) can feel so lonely and isolating, but we are not the first or only people to have suffered like this. Although arguably Solomon did have a bit of a unique situation, but still, hard relate to the ideas in Ecclesiastes.

Day 153 — Tuesday, 6/2 — Ecclesiastes 7-12, Psalm 9

• The Bible really does have a passage for everything. I’ve been thinking a lot about nostalgic internet trends and how they make people sad, when Ecclesiastes 7:10 jumped right to the heart of it: “Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.”

• This one too, Ecclesiastes 7:16-17: “So don’t be too good or too wise. Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time?”

• It may sound silly, but the entirety of Ecclesiastes is why I prioritize family travel and book nice resorts for us when I can (and leverage points when we have less money). There was a period of time just a few years ago when Alex and I were bracing ourselves for the possibility that he was going to be a single father to our little girl; to now have a thriving family of 5 is a miracle we didn’t believe was possible. Solomon had literally everything, but what good was it? I will praise God and enjoy my blessings every single day.

• Ecclesiastes makes blatant what should be obvious: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

Day 154 — Wednesday, 6/3 — Mark 1-2, Psalm 11

• Mark opens with a bang: John the Baptist, Jesus baptized, Disciples gathered, lepers healed, all in the first chapter.

• Jesus immediately starts pissing off the religious establishment by healing people, forgiving their sins, and casting out demons.

Day 155 — Thursday, 6/3 — Mark 3-4, Psalm 20

• Chapter 3: Jesus heals on the Sabbath and the Pharisees start plotting to kill Him.

• Jesus appoints the twelve apostles, casts out demons again, and is accused of being possessed by Satan. He famously says a house divided cannot stand — a metaphor to explain how Satan couldn’t drive out himself.

• Jesus speaks in riddles, reciting parables that render him perpetually misunderstood.

• In one of the funniest stories in the Bible (imo), Jesus says to his disciples “let’s cross this lake” and then falls asleep in the boat while a storm approaches. The disciples wake Him alarmed that He’s going to let them drown

Day 156 — Friday, 6/5 — Mark 5-6, Psalm 21

• The Jesus hits keep coming: He casts a legion of demons into pigs who proceed to throw themselves off a cliff into a lake, heals a woman after twelve years of bleeding simply from her touching his cloak, and raises a twelve-year-old girl from the dead.

• Jesus goes back to his hometown and they can’t get past knowing him as a carpenter’s kid.

• John the Baptist is executed because King Herod’s wife hates him.

• Jesus feeds 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Day 157 — Saturday, 6/6 — Mark 7-8, Psalm 23

• Jesus uses yet another parable to poke holes in the Pharisees empty faith, saying it’s not what goes into a person (food) that makes them unclean, it’s what comes out (their actions). A lesson for the wellness obsessed.

• Jesus heals a Gentile woman’s daughter, a deaf man, and feeds four thousand people with 7 loaves of bread.

• Jesus predicts his own death and tells his disciples what’s about to happen. Peter pulls Him aside and reprimands him for speaking so openly and Jesus doubles down.

Day 158 — Sunday, 6/7 — Mark 9-10, Psalm 29

• The Transfiguration: Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain, and he is visibly transformed, with his clothes become dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear and have a conversation with Jesus, and then a cloud comes over them and announces that Jesus is the son of God.

• The disciples argue about who among them is the greatest. Jesus puts a child in front of them and says: this is what greatness looks like in the kingdom. 🥹

• A rich man wants to enter Heaven, but does not want to give up his wealth. Jesus says it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

What came up for you this week? Ecclesiastes, Mark, or both — share below!

This Week

We are reading:

• 1 Chronicles 23-29

• 1 Kings 1-11

• 2 Chronicles 1-9

• Psalms 64, 65, 66, 4, 5, 6, 7

Summary

This week we wrap up 1 Chronicles with David in his final days, obsessively organizing everything he couldn’t build himself: the Levites, the priests, the musicians, the gatekeepers, the military, the treasury. The man is dying and he is making lists. Honestly, I get it.

Then Solomon ascends the throne, consolidates power, and does what his father spent a lifetime preparing for — he builds the temple. Seven years of construction. Cedar from Lebanon. Gold everywhere. The ark finally in its permanent home. The presence of God filling the house like smoke.

It is one of the most magnificent moments in the entire Bible.

And then Solomon just throws it all away.

Starting with a foreign wife, a compromise, a high place built for a god that isn’t the God, and then another, and another, until a man who started by asking for wisdom is chasing every idol in the ancient Near East.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 145 — Monday, 5/25 — 1 Chronicles 23-26, Psalm 64

• Day 146 — Tuesday, 5/26 — 1 Chronicles 27-29, Psalm 65

• Day 147 — Wednesday, 5/27 — 1 Kings 1-4, Psalm 66

• Day 148 — Thursday, 5/28 — 1 Kings 5-8, Psalm 4

• Day 149 — Friday, 5/29 — 1 Kings 9-11, Psalm 5

• Day 150 — Saturday, 5/30 — 2 Chronicles 1-5, Psalm 6

• Day 151 — Sunday, 5/31 — 2 Chronicles 6-9, Psalm 7

Day 145 — Monday, 5/25 — 1 Chronicles 23-26, Psalm 64

• David is old and makes Solomon king.

• The Levites are organized by division and assigned specific roles: overseeing the work of the temple, acting as officers and judges, serving as gatekeepers, leading the music.

• Interestingly, the musicians are named and are treated as a guild of prophets, set apart for “prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.”

• These chapters cover all the duties and roles related to organizing and worshipping at the temple.

Day 146 — Tuesday, 5/26 — 1 Chronicles 27-29, Psalm 65

• More organization: the military divisions, the tribal leaders, the overseers of the royal storehouses and herds and vineyards and olive groves and camels.

• David assembles all of Israel and gives a speech telling them what God told him: you are a man of war, you have blood on your hands, and you will not build the temple. Your son will.

• He hands Solomon the architectural plans then turns to the assembly and essentially runs a capital campaign. He announces what he personally is giving (massive quantities of gold and silver and bronze beyond the national treasury) and asks, who will give themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord today? The leaders and officials respond with extraordinary generosity, giving hundreds of tons of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and untold numbers of precious stones.

• Solomon is anointed a second time and David dies.

Day 147 — Wednesday, 5/27 — 1 Kings 1-4, Psalm 66

• Jumping back a bit, 1 Kings opens with David very old, and we are back in a more detailed biography of interwoven personal tales that reads very much like\ Game of Thrones.

• Another day, another coup. Adonijah, David’s surviving eldest son, moves to claim the throne. Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba stage an intervention, and David publicly anoints Solomon, undercutting Adonijah’s ploy.

• David dies. Solomon consolidates power. Adonijah makes one more play and Solomon has him executed.

• God appears to Solomon in a dream, and Solomon asks for wisdom — specifically, a discerning heart to govern the people and distinguish right from wrong. God is so pleased with the request that he gives him wealth, honor, fame, and long life on top of it.

• The infamous judgment between two mothers follows immediately after. Two women come before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother of the same baby. One accuses the other of having rolled over on her own child in the night, suffocating it, and then secretly exchanging the dead infant for the living one. King Solomon proposes an insane solution: the living child should be cut in two, with half given to each woman. One of the women agrees, and the other cries out in protest — proving to King Solomon she is the true mother of the living baby.

Day 148 — Thursday, 5/28 — 1 Kings 5-8, Psalm 4

• The temple building begins. Solomon sends to Hiram king of Tyre — David’s old ally and an icon of Freemasonry — for cedar and cypress timber. The sheer volume of materials, laborers, and logistics described are staggering.

• Four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus (12 x 40 years, just sharing because you know I’m always calculating), in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, construction starts on the temple.

• It took seven years to build. Then, on a roll, Solomon spent another thirteen years building his own palace complex, also described in detail. The contrast in construction time is noted without comment, so make of that what you will.

• The ark is brought in to the inner sanctuary, placed under the wings of the cherubim. There are parallels to the Garden of Eden, as you will remember the cherubim are guarding the entrance with flaming swords. The cloud of God fills the temple.

Day 149 — Friday, 5/29 — 1 Kings 9-11, Psalm 5

• God appears to Solomon a second time. God is explicit in his communication with Solomon: if you walk before me as your father David walked, your dynasty will endure; if you turn away and serve other gods, this temple I have consecrated will become a heap of rubble. The foreshadowing is as thick as the cloudy presence of God in the temple.

• Solomon’s international reputation reaches its peak and the Queen of Sheba arrives and declares that his wisdom and prosperity exceed even the reports she’d heard. A foreign queen praising Israel’s God is exactly what this faithful kingdom was supposed to accomplish.

• Whoopsie! King Solomon’s riches and fame, and particularly the attention of foreign women, goes to his head. He winds up with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The marriages were political alliances, which was common at the time, however the consequence is that these wives turned Solomon towards other gods, just as God warned when he told the Israelites not to marry foreign women.

• Solomon built high places for Chemosh, Molek, and the other gods of all his foreign wives. The man who built the temple built shrines for idols on the hills outside Jerusalem, and he worshipped there. Big yikes.

• God tells him the kingdom will be torn away — but not in his lifetime, for David’s sake. One tribe will remain for David’s sake. The adversaries begin to rise.

Day 150 — Saturday, 5/30 — 2 Chronicles 1-5, Psalm 6

• Fun fact: Today is my birthday! Fittingly, it is also the feast day of Joan of Arc.

• We switch books again. 2 Chronicles begins at the same place as 1 Kings 1-2 ends with Solomon firmly established as king, but again skipping past the palace intrigue.

• The workforce and material quantities for the temple are described again, with some variations in number from Kings.

Day 151 — Sunday, 5/31 — 2 Chronicles 6-9, Psalm 7

• Solomon’s prayer of dedication again, and the cloud of God fills the temple.

• God appears to Solomon a third time in Chronicles.

• The Queen of Sheba again.

• In Chronicles, Solomon builds the temple and it is glorious and then he dies and his son reigns in his place. There are no foreign wives, no idols, no distraction from the core story: Solomon built the temple.

Whew, we’re almost halfway through the Bible, and working our way through the origin story of the secret societies! What came up for you this week?

This Week

We are reading:

• 2 Samuel 22-24

• 1 Chronicles 1-22

• Psalms 30, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 62

Summary

This week we finish 2 Samuel and begin 1 Chronicles.

We finish David’s story not with a bang but with a whimper — but we end up at the foundation of Solomon’s Temple.

Then we begin 1 Chronicles, which starts us back at the beginning with a retelling of our origin family and how we got from Adam to Noah to David, before diving back into David’s story.

1 Chronicles was written after the Babylonian exile, for a people returning home. It’s a lot of genealogy, yet again, but remember the books in the Bible were all separate scrolls of information, and this one was tying a somewhat nomadic people to a solid family thread so they could remember who they were.

David’s story is retold with very little scandal. Is this the boring Bible I keep hearing about? Because honestly these stories are anything but. In hindsight, we can see that David prepared everything for the temple, securing the kingdom so his son could build what he couldn’t. Moses vibes here — it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

A reminder this week: It’s ok to skim! This week is very same same, but different — it’s a lot of ground we have already covered, just from another angle. If you zone out, just come back tomorrow. It’ll still be here.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 138 — Monday, 5/18 — 2 Samuel 22-24, Psalm 30

• Day 139 — Tuesday, 5/19 — 1 Chronicles 1-4, Psalm 39

• Day 140 — Wednesday, 5/20 — 1 Chronicles 5-8, Psalm 40

• Day 141 — Thursday, 5/21 — 1 Chronicles 9-12, Psalm 41

• Day 142 — Friday, 5/22 — 1 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 42

• Day 143 — Saturday, 5/23 — 1 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 43

• Day 144 — Sunday, 5/24 — 1 Chronicles 20-22, Psalm 62

Day 138 — Monday, 5/18 — 2 Samuel 22-24, Psalm 30

• 2 Samuel 22 is David’s great song of deliverance and is nearly identical to Psalm 18, which we read back in Week 19.

• We then read David’s last words, including a catalog of his mighty men, followed by a census — so yet another list of men.

• David’s census taking is decidedly sinful (pride, perhaps?) and God lets him choose his punishment from three options: famine, 3 months as a fugitive, or 3 days of plague. David chooses the plague, and seventy thousand people die. David builds an altar and offers a sacrifice at the place where the angel of the Lord stops the famine — which becomes the place where Solomon will build the permanent temple.

Day 139 — Tuesday, 5/19 — 1 Chronicles 1-4, Psalm 39

• Chronicles starts from the beginning — Adam, Noah, his three sons, and their descendants. A piano teacher once told me that you’ll always know the beginning of a piece of music the best because you keep going over it every time you restart when you’re practicing. That’s what this feels like, tbh.

• Since we’re reading the Bible in chronological order, it’s interesting to go back and review from another angle everything we’ve read so far — a single unbroken line of a million stories that have brought us to this point.

Day 140 — Wednesday, 5/20 — 1 Chronicles 5-8, Psalm 40

• The genealogies continue. The Levites get the most specific lineage traced in detail because of their role in the temple.

Day 141 — Thursday, 5/21 — 1 Chronicles 9-12, Psalm 41

• Chapter 9 lists those who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, which is the whole point of all the genealogy.

• Saul dies, David becomes king. The sordid history is summarized into it’s final point — Israel is united under God’s appointed leader.

Day 142 — Friday, 5/22 — 1 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 42

• David’s first attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem goes exactly as it does in 2 Samuel — the ark slips and Uzzah steadies it and is immediately struck dead. But Chronicles adds a detail Samuel left out: when David tries to move the ark again, he makes a point of doing it correctly, with the Levites carrying the ark on their shoulders with poles, as the law prescribes.

• Chronicles is an accurate name because the details this author includes about the party post-ark arrival — the singers the instruments — vs what the author leaves out about Bathsheba, Tamar, Absalom etc is certainly a choice.

Day 143 — Saturday, 5/23 — 1 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 43

• The Davidic Covenant again — God’s promise that David’s son will build the temple, that his line will endure, that discipline will come but love will not be removed.

• We are provided with a summary of the wars, but the Chronicler conspicuously skips over Bathsheba.

Day 144 — Sunday, 5/24 — 1 Chronicles 20-22, Psalm 62

• More Philistine battles. More giants are killed. The kingdom is secured.

• Then the census — but again, we get a different level of detail: in Samuel, it is God who incites David to take it. In Chronicles, it is Satan who does so. Honestly, this makes more sense to me.

• Whereas Samuel implies the future temple location, Chronicles outright declares it.

• In chapter 22 we have a story entirely unique to Chronicles: David gathering enormous quantities of gold, silver, bronze, iron, timber, stone for the temple and calling Solomon and charging him with the task.

What do you think of the differences between Chronicles and Samuel? Does the shift in perspective change how you see David or anything else? Share in the comments and the chat!

This Week

We are reading:

• 2 Samuel 1-21

• Psalms 18, 89, 60, 51, 3, 37, 38

Summary

We made it. David is king.

What could go wrong?!

A lot, actually.

This week we read most of 2 Samuel and watch David go from the highest highs — dancing in the streets with total abandon for the Lord, giving his wife the ultimate ick — to the lowest lows — a near-refugee fleeing his own son in a coup and trying to keep the kingdom together.

The Psalms are again ever relevant, including David’s song of deliverance (Psalm 18) and the tale of him fleeing his own son (Psalm 3).

This Bible study is free for everyone, made possible by the support of our paid subscribers.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 131 — Monday, 5/11 — 2 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 18

• Day 132 — Tuesday, 5/12 — 2 Samuel 4-6, Psalm 89

• Day 133 — Wednesday, 5/13 — 2 Samuel 7-9, Psalm 60

• Day 134 — Thursday, 5/14 — 2 Samuel 10-12, Psalm 51

• Day 135 — Friday, 5/15 — 2 Samuel 13-15, Psalm 3

• Day 136 — Saturday, 5/16 — 2 Samuel 16-18, Psalm 37

• Day 137 — Sunday, 5/17 — 2 Samuel 19-21, Psalm 38

Day 131 — Monday, 5/11 — 2 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 18

• News of Saul’s death reaches David via an Amalekite messenger who claims to have dealt the final blow himself because he is expecting a reward. Instead, David has him executed. Whoops! Shouldn’t have bragged about killing God’s anointed one.

• David is anointed king over Judah first, not all Israel. Saul’s surviving son Ishbosheth is proclaimed as the King of Israel, a rival — and civil war breaks out.

Day 132 — Tuesday, 5/12 — 2 Samuel 4-6, Psalm 89

• Ishbosheth is assassinated in his bed by two of his own men, who bring his head to David expecting praise. Again, David has them executed.

• David is anointed the king of Israel and captures Jerusalem, making it the capital and naming it the City of David — a culmination of the Exodus effort to flee Egypt and settle in the Promised Land

• David wants to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem but on the way Uzzah accidentally touches it and is struck dead on the spot. David is afraid and doesn’t try again for three months. When the procession resumes and the ark finally enters Jerusalem, David dances before the Lord with everything he has — and his wife Michal watches from a window, gets the ick, and never has children with him.

Day 133 — Wednesday, 5/13 — 2 Samuel 7-9, Psalm 60

• David, living in his cedar palace, doesn’t like that the ark is still in a tent. He wants to build God a house — but God says no, your son will build me the temple. This results in the Davidic Covenant — the promise that David’s line will result in an unconditional, eternal kingdom, culminating in the arrival of the Messiah

• For Jonathan’s sake, and as an act of covenant loyalty, David restores all of Saul’s land to his grandson, Mephibosheth, and insists he eat at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

Day 134 — Thursday, 5/14 — 2 Samuel 10-12, Psalm 51

• David starts slipping. He has an affair with Bathsheba (because remember, his wife has the permanent ick) and gets her pregnant. David calls her husband, Uriah, back from battle tries to get them to sleep together to cover it up, but Uriah refuses because his men are at war. David sends him back to the front and puts him in harms way so he dies, and David marries Bathsheba.

• Nathan the prophet comes to David and tells him a parable of a rich man who takes a poor man’s only beloved lamb rather than slaughter one of his own. David is furious at the man in the story. Then Nathan tells him “You are the man.”

• David’s child with Bathsheba dies, but they have another and name him Solomon.

Day 135 — Friday, 5/15 — 2 Samuel 13-15, Psalm 3

• David’s family falls into dissaray. His firstborn son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar, she flees to her brother Absalom’s house, who waits two years then has Amnon killed before fleeing. The estrangement between Absalom and David festers into a full blown political coup.

• Absalom begins systematically stealing the hearts of Israel. He sits at the city gate, intercepts anyone coming to the king for justice, tells them “if only I were made judge.” Finally, he launches his rebellion from Hebron and David flees Jerusalem with his household, barefoot and weeping up the Mount of Olives.

Day 136 — Saturday, 5/16 — 2 Samuel 16-18, Psalm 37

• As David flees, a man named Shimei — from Saul’s clan — follows along hurling curses and throwing stones. David’s men want to cut his head off. David says no. “Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.” The humility of it is remarkable. He receives the cursing as discipline.

• Absalom enters Jerusalem and, on Ahithophel’s counsel, very publicly has sex with David’s concubines on the palace rooftop.

• Ahithophel advises Absalom to pursue David, but he listens to Hushai instead. While Ahitophel has a better plan, God’s plan is ultimately to thwart Absalom. Hushai then warns David to escape.

• David’s army wins in the battle in the forest of Ephraim, and Absalom, riding a mule through the forest, gets his famous hair caught in a tree — and hangs there. Joab drives three javelins through him despite David’s explicit orders that Absalom be kept alive. David is devastated when he learns his son has died.

Day 137 — Sunday, 5/17 — 2 Samuel 19-21, Psalm 38

• Joab confronts David and tells him his grief is demoralizing the army. David pulls himself together and resumes his kingship. The return to Jerusalem is complicated.

• A new rebellion rises almost immediately, followed by a famine resulting from a treaty Saul violated decades earlier.

• This week’s readings end with yet another battle between the Israelites and giants — and these ones explicitly have 6 fingers and 6 toes.

Whew. A lot going on this week. What are your thoughts? Share below and in the chat.

This Week

We are reading:

• 1 Samuel 11-31

• Psalms 54, 57, 59, 142, 63, 56, 34

Summary

This is a crazy week of readings — we get to witness a high-octane game of cat and mouse as we finish 1 Samuel, and we finally catch up to the primary author of the Psalms.

Saul becomes Israel’s first king, chosen by God, anointed and tall and promising — and he is exactly the kind of king the Israelites deserve, tbh. He starts out with genuine victories and potential, but pride and fear chip away at him until there’s almost nothing left of who he was supposed to be.

And running alongside this disintegration is the redemptive story of the rise of David as he navigates evolving identities — shepherd, musician, giant-killer, fugitive. He is impossible not to root for, and at this point in the Bible, we really need and deserve a hero.

The Psalms woven into this week’s readings are on point, traditionally attributed to David during the very events we’re reading about. You can feel David’s simultaneous fear and trust in the Lord palpably through these Psalms.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 124 — Monday, 5/4 — 1 Samuel 11-13, Psalm 54

• Day 125 — Tuesday, 5/5 — 1 Samuel 14-16, Psalm 57

• Day 126 — Wednesday, 5/6 — 1 Samuel 17-19, Psalm 59

• Day 127 — Thursday, 5/7 — 1 Samuel 20-22, Psalm 142

• Day 128 — Friday, 5/8 — 1 Samuel 23-25, Psalm 63

• Day 129 — Saturday, 5/9 — 1 Samuel 26-28, Psalm 56

• Day 130 — Sunday, 5/10 — 1 Samuel 29-31, Psalm 34

Day 124 — Monday, 5/4 — 1 Samuel 11-13, Psalm 54

• Saul rallies Israel to rescue the city of Jabesh-Gilead from the Ammonite king Nahash — a genuine military victory that consolidates his kingship. At this point, he is functioning exactly as God intended. Will it last?!

• Samuel gives his farewell address as judge, directly reminding and warning the people that wanting a king was a rejection of God’s direct leadership. Uh oh.

• The cracks begin to show: Saul grows impatient waiting for Samuel before battle and offers the burnt sacrifice himself — something he had no authority to do. Samuel arrives moments later. “What have you done?”

• Samuel tells Saul his kingdom will not endure.

Day 125 — Tuesday, 5/5 — 1 Samuel 14-16, Psalm 57

• Saul’s son, Jonathan, pulls off a solo attack on the Philistines that routes the whole enemy army. He didn’t ask his father’s permission, but God honored the faith.

• Saul, meanwhile, makes a rash oath that no one should eat until evening, nearly getting Jonathan executed for eating honey he didn’t know was off-limits, and is only stopped by the people intervening.

• Once again the Israelites refuse to honor God’s commands to destroy everyone/everything when Saul wins the battle against the Amekalites but spares the king Agag and keeps the best livestock. When confronted, Sau insists he was going to sacrifice them.

• God rejects Saul as the King of Israel and Samuel anoints David as the next king of Israel. David plays the harp to soothe Saul as a tormenting spirit overcomes him.

• We don’t talk about the daily Psalms/Proverbs readings enough, but all of this week’s Psalms are likely written by David. Psalm 57 is attributed to David as he’s hiding in a cave — an event we’re getting to a little later this week.

Day 126 — Wednesday, 5/6 — 1 Samuel 17-19, Psalm 59

• Ah, the Goliath story. David beats Goliath, a giant, and it’s one of the most famous Bible stories, and maybe the umpteenth time giants are mentioned, and people still think giants are mythological.

• Saul elevates David in the aftermath, he becomes friends with his son, Jonathan, and his status as a rising Israelite celebrity pushes Saul’s affection into jealousy and then rage.

• 1 Samuel 18 reads like a twisted fairy tale. Saul, seeing an opportunity to put David in harm’s way, offers to marry him off to his daughter for the price of 100 Philistine foreskins. Much to his chagrin, David returns unscathed with 200 foreskins.

• Saul tries to kill David and his son, Jonathan, warns him, and he escapes. He tries to kill him again and his daughter, David’s wife, Michal, helps David escape again.

• The Psalms we are reading this week are written by David mostly in exile, as he flees the growing rage of Saul

Day 127 — Thursday, 5/7 — 1 Samuel 20-22, Psalm 142

• Jonathan learns that Saul does, indeed, intent to kill David

• David, now a fugitive, shows up in Nob and lies to the priest Ahimelech about his mission, gets the consecrated showbread and Goliath’s sword.

• David gathers a ragtag band of men and becomes their leader. The Saul/David story continues to sound like a Fractured Fairy Tale.

• Psalm 142 is David in a cave, with no one left.

Day 128 — Friday, 5/8 — 1 Samuel 23-25, Psalm 63

• David keeps fighting the Philistines even while fleeing Saul, protecting Israelite cities while he’s technically a wanted man simply because he is a man of God and it’s the right thing to do.

• Saul pursues David relentlessly through the wilderness, and one day, he even retreats into a cave that David and his men are already in, further back. David’s men whisper that God has delivered Saul into his hands, but David refuses to harm him because he has been anointed by the Lord.

• Nabal (a name that means fool) insults David’s men and David is ready to kill him, when Nabal’s wife, Abigail, rides out to intercept him with food. She basically talks him down from a massacre and reminds him of who he is and who he’s going to be.

• Nabal dies shortly after of a stroke, and David marries Abigail.

Day 129 — Saturday, 5/9 — 1 Samuel 26-28, Psalm 56

• David again has an opportunity to kill Saul and doesn’t take it.

• Running out of options and safety in Israelite territory, David defects to the Philistines, raiding enemy towns while pretending to raid Israelite ones.

• Saul, desperate before a battle he already knows he’s going to lose, visits the Witch of Endor and asks her to conjure Samuel’s spirit. This does not bode well for Saul.

Day 130 — Sunday, 5/10 — 1 Samuel 29-31, Psalm 34

• The Philistine commanders don’t trust David marching with them into battle against Israel and send him back. David and his men return to Ziklag to find it burned and their families taken captive by the Amalekites. His own men speak of stoning him.

• David asks the Lord if he should pursue the Amalekites and get the wives, children, and stuff back, God says yes, and David and his men pursue and get everything back.

• Meanwhile, in battle: the Philistines are closing in and, rather than die at the hands of “these pagan Philistines,” Saul falls on his own sword and dies.

• Psalm 34 is David’s song of deliverance, ending the week on a sweet note.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the week’s readings below and in the weekly chat!

This Week

We are reading:

• Judges 13-21

• Ruth

• 1 Samuel 1-10

• Psalms 32, 35, 14, 15, 36, 86, 52

Summary

This week we continue reading Judges and learn the story of Samson.

A complicated figure, Samson is set apart at birth to ultimately deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. He is easily distracted, however — breaking his Nazarite vows by touching a dead body (the lion), possibly ingesting grapes or wine (partaking in feasts), and ultimately meeting his downfall when he tells Delilah his strength would be lost by cutting his hair.

Then we pivot into Ruth, one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, before embarking upon the beginning of Israel’s kingship with Samuel.

The question that comes up over and over again this week is: are we following God, or are we all just doing what seems right in our own eyes?

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 117 — Monday, 4/27 — Judges 13-15, Psalm 32

• Day 118 — Tuesday, 4/28 — Judges 16-18, Psalm 35

• Day 119 — Wednesday, 4/29 — Judges 19-21, Psalm 14

• Day 120 — Thursday, 4/30 — Ruth 1-4, Psalm 15

• Day 121 — Friday, 5/1 — 1 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 36

• Day 122 — Saturday, 5/2 — 1 Samuel 4-7, Psalm 86

• Day 123 — Sunday, 5/3 — 1 Samuel 8-10, Psalm 52

Day 117 — Monday, 4/27 — Judges 13-15, Psalm 32

• An angel appears to a couple and tell them they are going to have a son who will be a Nazirite and deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. They name him Samson.

• Samson kills a lion and later eats honey from its carcass — breaking the Nazirite vow never to touch a dead body.

Day 118 — Tuesday, 4/28 — Judges 16-18, Psalm 35

• Samson becomes blinded with infatuation with Delilah, who keeps trying to figure out the source of his power to sell him out to the Philistines

• After three false starts, Samson finally tells Delilah the source of his power is in his hair — she proceeds to cut it all off and turn him over to the Philistines

• Samson gets the final word, as his hair begins to grow back and God blesses him with one last feat of strength that takes out the Philistine leaders

• Israel continues to slide further into idolatry and confusion

Day 119 — Wednesday, 4/29 — Judges 19-21, Psalm 14

• The Israelites have descended into utter depravity. The story of the Levite’s concubine is heartbreaking.

• These chapters are marked by violence, civil war, and moral collapse, illustrating just what happens as humanity intermingles with the demonic offspring and drifts away from God.

Day 120 — Thursday, 4/30 — Ruth 1-4, Psalm 15

• The story of Ruth’s faithfulness and loyalty to her mother-in-law — and her dedication to fulfilling her late husband’s family line — results in Ruth ending up in the lineage of King David (and eventually Jesus).

Day 121 — Friday, 5/1 — 1 Samuel 1-3, Psalm 36

• Hannah, unable to have children, prays earnestly at the tabernacle and promises to dedicate her son to God. God answers her prayer, and she gives birth to Samuel.

• She fulfills her vow by bringing him to serve under the priest Eli, whose sons are corrupt and abuse their priestly role.

• Samuel hears God calling him at night. With Eli’s guidance, he responds, and God reveals a shocking judgment against Eli’s household.

Day 122 — Saturday, 5/2 — 1 Samuel 4-7, Psalm 86

• The Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant and treat it like a lucky charm, which backfires on them — destroying their Dagon idol, killing their townfolk — so they return it.

• Eli’s sons die, and Eli himself dies upon hearing the news.

• Samuel calls Israel to repentance. The people turn back to God, and Israel defeats the Philistines. Samuel becomes a recognized leader and judge.

Day 123 — Sunday, 5/3 — 1 Samuel 8-10, Psalm 52

• As Samuel grows old, he appoints his sons as the judges of Israel, but they become corrupt.

• The elders of Israel demand a king “like other nations.” God tells Samuel to grant their request but warns that a king will take advantage of them (taxes, labor, control).

• Saul is identified by God as Israel’s first king

And next week we begin Israel’s transition into the Kingdom period — stay tuned!

This Week

We are reading:

• Joshua 16-24

• Judges 1-12

• Psalm 13, 24-28, 31

Summary

We are finishing Joshua this week, and we see that God’s promises are being fulfilled as the Promised Land is divided amongst the tribes. Unfortunately, Israel does not hold up their end of the bargain, doesn’t wipe out the existing cities, and chaos ensues pretty quickly.

God told the Israelites to eradicate the people of that land for a reason. And, listen, I get it. It is hard to understand this kind of warfare. But we’ve read the Book of Enoch! We know what kind of genetic corruption exists in the bloodlines of giants, and unfortunately, they are at odds with humanity as originally designed by God.

And whew if these people dragging their feet about taking possession of what God already gave them isn’t relatable. Stop being a mirror, Bible!

And then we start the Book of Judges.

Judges details the leaders of the Israelites after Joshua, but before Israel had kings.

This week we also have a couple feminist icons — Deborah, the only female Judge and leader of the Israelites, and Jael, an iconic assassin.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 110 — Monday, 4/20 — Joshua 16-18, Psalm 13

• Day 111 — Tuesday, 4/21 — Joshua 19-21, Psalm 24

• Day 112 — Wednesday, 4/22 — Joshua 22-24, Psalm 25

• Day 113 — Thursday, 4/23 — Judges 1-3, Psalm 26

• Day 114 — Friday, 4/24 — Judges 4-6, Psalm 27

• Day 115 — Saturday, 4/25 — Judges 7-9, Psalm 28

• Day 116 — Sunday, 4/26 — Judges 10-12, Psalm 31

Day 110 — Monday, 4/20 — Joshua 16-18, Psalm 13

• The land is distributed according to God’s promise — but the Israelites are not fully driving out the inhabitants as required.

Day 111 — Tuesday, 4/21 — Joshua 19-21, Psalm 24

• More land assignments, more promises fulfilled

Day 112 — Wednesday, 4/22 — Joshua 22-24, Psalm 25

• The eastern tribes build an altar, which the tribes on the other side of the Jordan assume is yet another rebellion against the Lord, nearly plunging the Israelites into civil war. The eastern tribes explain it is an altar of unity, a reminder that all tribes have a right to worship the one true God.

• Joshua dies and is buried, after reiterating to the Israelites that they must burn their idols and worship God alone.

Day 113 — Thursday, 4/23 — Judges 1-3, Psalm 26

• We get a bit of a retelling of the end of Joshua, with Israel declining to fully remove the Canaanites and living amongst them and intermarrying, in direct disobedience to God’s commands.

• God reiterates that this will have consequences — cut to the Israelites becoming oppressed by King Eglon of Moab.

• We get a story worthy of inclusion in The Princess Bride when Ehud saves the Israelites from the Moabites by assassinating their king.

Day 114 — Friday, 4/24 — Judges 4-6, Psalm 27

• Deborah is especially interesting — a prophet AND leader in a time of total instability and oppression by the Canaanite King Jabin.

• But Jael’s story is the best. When Sisera, commander of King Jabin’s army, has his whole army wiped out in a battle with the Israelites, he retreats to hide in Jael’s tent. He falls asleep, and she drives a tent peg through his head.

• The pattern of “the Israelites did evil in the Lords sight — the Lord handed them over to _____” continues

Day 115 — Saturday, 4/25 — Judges 7-9, Psalm 28

• Gideon is chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites. God intentionally reduces his army through a weird test of how they drink water from a spring. At any rate, with the size of the army greatly reduced, the victory is clearly divine.

• But afterward, Gideon takes all the Ishmaelites gold earrings and creates an idol that leads people astray.

• Abimelech, Gideon’s son, decides to name himself King and kills all of his half-brothers — except for one. After three years, the city rebels against him and, long story short, Abimelech is killed by a woman dropping a stone on his head from the top of a tower.

Day 116 — Sunday, 4/26 — Judges 10-12, Psalm 31

• Jephthah makes a tragic, rash vow that costs him his daughter. It’s interesting to note that God never asked him to do this, and Jephthah is mixing pagan ideas of sacrifice (particularly child sacrifice) with faith.

• By now, leadership is unstable, morality is slipping, and everyone is improvising spiritually as Israel falls further away from their orthodox faith.

What came up for you this week? How are you feeling about the Bible study? Share your thoughts below!

This Week

We are reading:

• John 13-21

• Joshua 1-15

• Proverbs 6:12-35, Psalm 55, Psalm 58, Psalm 61, Psalm 12

Summary

We wrap up the Book of John this week, completing our first testimony of Jesus’ life on earth.

This is a heartbreaking read even though we know what’s going to happen. After everything we have read so far, God’s love for us is so clear. Humanity’s sinfulness and ungratefulness stands in stark contrast to His mercy, underscored by the fact that we alone didn’t create this fallen world — we find ourselves at the crossroads of almost unfathomable cosmic spiritual warfare.

And here I am, complaining that people keep stealing my content on the internet.

We’ll catch up with John again at the end of the year when we read his letters and his final Revelation.

But now, back to the desert.

This week we begin the Book of Joshua. Joshua takes over where Moses left off, leading the Israelites into the promised land and beginning to conquer the land and take over the cities.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 103 — Monday, 4/13 — John 13-15, Proverbs 6:12-19

• Day 104 — Tuesday, 4/14 — John 16-18, Proverbs 6:20-24

• Day 105 — Wednesday, 4/15 — John 19-21, Proverbs 6:25-35

• Day 106 — Thursday, 4/16 — Joshua 1-4, Psalm 55

• Day 107 — Friday, 4/17 — Joshua 5-7, Psalm 58

• Day 108 — Saturday, 4/18 — Joshua 8-11, Psalm 61

• Day 109 — Sunday, 4/19 — Joshua 12-15, Psalm 12

Day 103 — Monday, 4/13 — John 13-15, Proverbs 6:12-19

• Jesus washes the disciples feet, exhibiting the radical humility and love our God has for humanity

• Jesus knows what is coming and declares “One of you will betray me.”

• Jesus states that He is the new law — the Way, the Truth, the Life

• Jesus describes the Trinity and the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 14:15, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him for he dwells with you, and will be in you.”

Day 104 — Tuesday, 4/14 — John 16-18, Proverbs 6:20-24

• Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane

• Peter slashes off the right ear of Malchus, one of the guards (in the other gospels, Peter is not named specifically to protect him, but it’s believed this gospel was written after Peter’s death)

• Peter denies Jesus 3 times before the rooster crows, as predicted

• Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilate

Day 105 — Wednesday, 4/15 — John 19-21, Proverbs 6:25-35

• Jesus’ crucifixion is ordered and the soldiers put a crown of thorns on him, mocking him

• Pontius Pilate has a complicated presence — he reluctantly orders Jesus’ crucifixion, and he repeatedly refers to Jesus as King of the Jews, even putting a “King of the Jews” sign on the cross in multiple languages. When asked to change it to He said, I am King of the Jews, Pontius said, “No. I wrote what I wrote.”

• When Jesus sees Mary from the cross, he says to John, “Behold, your mother” indicating John is to take care of Mary after Jesus’ death (note: it’s been asked if Jesus had brothers, Jesus likely would not have assigned this responsibility to John if he had brothers or if Joseph was still alive, it wouldn’t have been proper or necessary in Jewish culture)

• After Jesus’ death, one of the soldiers pierced his side and blood and water pour out, signifying the eucharist and baptism and fulfilling earlier scriptures in the Old Testament

• Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and finds it empty. She goes and tells Peter and John, who both run to the tomb (but John infamously runs faster).

• Jesus appears to Mary outside the tomb, and to all the disciples later on

• Doubting Thomas earns his name

• John recounts a few other miracles, but states that it’s impossible to write down all the things Jesus did because the world could not contain the books that would be written

Day 106 — Thursday, 4/16 — Joshua 1-4, Psalm 55

• The Israelites finally enter the Promised Land!!

• Spies are sent into Jericho, and they meet Rahab who helps them take over the city, sparing her family

• Joshua leads them across the Jordan River in a moment that echos the crossing of the Red Sea

Day 107 — Friday, 4/17 — Joshua 5-7, Psalm 58

• The sons of Israel are circumcised because they weren’t circumcised on the way

• The Israelites conquer Jericho, their first Canaanite city, with trumpets alone

• After Jericho, Israel is defeated at Ai — and it is revealed that Achan of the tribe of Judah took forbidden things from Jericho, resulting in their defeat

Day 108 — Saturday, 4/18 — Joshua 8-11, Psalm 61

• After repentance, God grants victory at Ai

• Joshua renews the covenant by reading the Law to all Israel and engraving a copy of it onto stone

• The Gibeonites deceive Israel into making a treaty with them to spare their lives

• God fights for Israel in major battles, even causing the sun to stand still - an event the Book of Joshua mentions is written in the long lost Book of Jasher (the modern version may or may not be a medieval forgery)

Day 109 — Sunday, 4/19 — Joshua 12-15, Psalm 12

• We encounter yet another Biblical listicle: a record of all the kings defeated by Israel

• The Promised Land begins to be divided among the Israelite tribes

• Caleb, from the tribe of Judah, receives his inheritance for his faithfulness as the only other person besides Joshua who fled Egypt and made it into the promised land

Tune in next week to find out what happens next on Keeping Up With The Israelites!

This Week

We are reading:

• Deuteronomy 27-34

• John 1-12

• Psalms 149-150, Proverbs 5-6:11

Summary

Whew! What a slog through the Torah but WE. MADE. IT.

Reading through the Bible in a year is one thing, but writing my thoughts on it every week is another. I, too, feel as though I’ve been wandering through the desert for 40 years.

And yet here I am — making summer plans for a road trip with three kids through the American west — my own little desert wandering adventure.

All that to say: sorry this article is a day late this week, and Happy Easter to you and your families!!

On to the Bible notes.

As we wrap up Deuteronomy, completing Moses’ narrative in these first five books of the Bible, one of the most interesting things we are reading this week is what is commonly referred to as the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. This is further validation of the story told in early Genesis and Enoch, where we learn about the supernatural conflict between the fallen angels and the humans who have dominion over the earth. In Moses’ final words, he details how God disinherited the rebellious nations at Babel, assigning them to lesser divine beings ("sons of God") while creating Israel as his own portion.

This explains why other nations worship lesser gods/demons instead of Yahweh, why idolatry is the worship of demons and receives a strong focus, and how spiritual warfare underscores the very conflicts we see between nations today.

And on that note — I am so excited to be wrapping up this section of the Bible and jumping to our very first Messianic Checkpoint with the Gospel of John!

Thank God Jesus is finally here to reverse the fallout of Babel and take back the nations.

The Gospel of John is markedly different from the other 3 Gospels detailing Jesus’ life — Matthew, Mark, and Luke, collectively called the Synoptic Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels detail what Jesus did, whereas John details who Jesus is.

John was written much later, is much more direct about Jesus’ identity as the son of God, and focused on validating that identity by documenting His miracles. It is presumed that the author didn’t want to repeat the other Gospels and was addressing an audience of heretics. John also specifically names names where the other gospels didn’t, but that won’t come up until next week’s readings.

Note to my future self, as I evolve this Bible study for next year: I gotta say, I wish I had cut about 10 days out of the plan earlier (maybe skipping Jubilees?) so we could have read John in the lead up to Easter. I might do that next year.

I really love ending the Torah and then reading one of the Gospels. It’s such a great reward. It helps us make connections. I just can’t wait 30+ more books for Jesus and I truly feel bad for the suffering Israelites. And while I definitely think the story of the entire Bible is fascinating and of course worth reading and studying, I also think if you just read the Torah, the first section of Enoch (1-36: Book of the Watchers), a few of the Gospels and Acts — you would have the outline of early world history and the baseline of the spiritual warfare we find ourselves within. You wouldn’t have the details, but you would have the shape of things.

This Bible study is free for everyone, made possible by the support of our paid subscribers.

If you’d like to support us, please consider a paid subscription. Paid subscribers receive:

• Full-length weekly cultural and Biblical deep dives

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• The entire archive of content on health and wellness, secret societies, and more (50+ articles)

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 96 — Monday, 4/6 — Deuteronomy 27-28, Psalm 149

• Day 97 — Tuesday, 4/7 — Deuteronomy 29-31, Psalm 150

• Day 98 — Wednesday, 4/8 — Deuteronomy 32-34, Proverbs 5:1-6

• Day 99 — Thursday, 4/9 — John 1-3, Proverbs 5:7-14

• Day 100 — Friday, 4/10 — John 4-6, Proverbs 5:15-23

• Day 101 — Saturday, 4/11 — John 7-9, Proverbs 6:1-5

• Day 102 — Sunday, 4/12 — John 10-12, Proverbs 6:6-11

Day 96 — Monday, 4/6 — Deuteronomy 27-28, Psalm 149

• Moses and the elders command Israel to set up plastered stones with the Law written on them once they enter the promised land.

• The Levites proclaim twelve curses for hidden sins — and all the people say, “Amen.”

• Detailed blessings are given for obedience, with very specific curses for disobedience.

• Foreshadowing! Exile is foretold if Israel is unfaithful to God. Gee, I wonder what’s going to happen next.

Day 97 — Tuesday, 4/7 — Deuteronomy 29-31, Psalm 150

• God renews the covenant with Moses and Israel in Moab.

• Israel is once again warned about idolatry and secret sin.

• God promises restoration of Israel after exile.

• Moses prepares for death and commissions Joshua as the next leader of Israel.

Day 98 — Wednesday, 4/8 — Deuteronomy 32-34, Proverbs 5:1-6

• Moses delivers the Song of Moses, recounting God’s faithfulness and Israel’s failure.

• Alright now we’re getting to the interesting part of this week’s reading: the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. Wherein God divided humanity among multiple spiritual beings (often understood as angels or divine council members) and personally chose Israel as His own inheritance. The other nations are under lesser spiritual rulers, who become corrupt and lead nations into idolatry.

  • NOTE: Some of your Bibles might say “sons of Israel” in Deuteronomy 32:8, but the original in Hebrew is the infamous bene Elohim — sons of God. This passage is talking about the events of the Tower of Babel, Israel didn’t even exist! How could God have divided the nations based on the sons of Israel!

• Despite the Israelites turning away, sacrificing to demons and whatnot, God will ultimately vindicate His people.

• Moses blesses the tribes of Israel, then God shows him the promised land that he will not enter.

• Moses dies, God buries him in Moab, and Joshua succeeds him.

Day 99 — Thursday, 4/9 — John 1-3, Proverbs 5:7-14

• The Gospel of John opens with the Word becoming flesh

• John the Baptist testifies to Jesus’ arrival

• The first disciples begin to follow Jesus after his recognition from John the Baptist

• Jesus performs his first miracle — turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana, at the insistence of his mother (a nice inclusion of Mary since John completely skips the immaculate conception — again, probably to avoid repeating stories contained in the synoptic gospels)

• Jesus sees dealers and merchants selling goods in the temple and is furious they have turned His father’s house into a marketplace, so he fashions a whip and chases them all out

• The Jewish leaders are furious at this and Jesus tells them to destroy the temple and that he will rebuild it in three days — a veiled reference to his ressurection, which the disciples will later remember

Day 100 — Friday, 4/10 — John 4-6, Proverbs 5:15-23

• Jesus reads a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well for having had 5 husbands and not being married to the man she’s currently living with — but he connects with this outsider by choosing to reveal to her that He is the Messiah and selecting her as the missionary to the Samaritans, a group at odds with the Jews — ultimately showing that Jesus has come to heal and redeem all the nations

• Jesus heals a sick man on the Sabbath, pissing off the Jewish leaders yet again

• Jesus feeds 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish

• Jesus walks on water

• Jesus tells the people in Capernaum that he is the bread of life and that anyone who eats the bread of life will live forever in Heaven. Several disciples say this is too hard to understand and desert Him. You guys want to discuss the Eucharist in the chat?

Day 101 — Saturday, 4/11 — John 7-9, Proverbs 6:1-5

• Jewish leaders argue over whether Jesus is the Messiah

• The story of the adulterous women in John 7:53-8:11 was not included in the earliest manuscripts. Some of the early church fathers believed the story likely reflected an actual Jesus story that circulated for a long time before it was documented in this Gospel — so it’s likely historically accurate if not authentic to this original manuscript.

• Jesus heals a blind man, again on the Sabbath, and accuses the Pharisees of spiritual blindness

Day 102 — Sunday, 4/12 — John 10-12, Proverbs 6:6-11

• Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead — ultimately triggering the series of events that leads to his crucifiction

• Jesus, riding a donkey, enters Jerusalem to a crowd carrying palm leaves — on a day that will be memorialized as Palm Sunday

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This Week

We are reading:

• Deuteronomy 1-26

• Psalms 133-135, 137, 146-148

Summary

This week we begin Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is largely a redux of Leviticus and the entire 40 years of wandering in the desert as Moses reiterates the rules Israel is to abide by as they take over and inhabit the Promised Land.

Given the behavior of the Israelites for the last 40 years of desert wandering (hey, at least they weren’t slaves anymore), it makes sense that Moses would devote an entire book to summarizing the Israelites faults and rebellions and the rules that the next generation is to follow to stay in God’s good graces.

This week also marks Passover, which begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 1st and continues through Thursday, April 9th. Our family will be doing a Passover Seder to share the story of Exodus with our children. If you’ve never done a Passover Seder, it’s a ritual using symbolic foods and ritual acts that invite us to step into The Exodus ourselves, using story, symbolism, and questions to pass along what freedom really means and where we come from, in a way our kids can understand and carry with them.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 89 — Monday, 3/30 — Deuteronomy 1-3, Psalm 133

• Day 90 — Tuesday, 3/31 — Deuteronomy 4-6, Psalm 134

• Day 91 — Wednesday, 4/1 — Deuteronomy 7-10, Psalm 135

• Day 92 — Thursday, 4/2 — Deuteronomy 11-14, Psalm 137

• Day 93 — Friday, 4/3 — Deuteronomy 15-18, Psalm 146

• Day 94 — Saturday, 4/4 — Deuteronomy 19-22, Psalm 147

• Day 95 — Sunday, 4/5 — Deuteronomy 23-26, Psalm 148

Day 89 — Monday, 3/30 — Deuteronomy 1-3, Psalm 133

• Moses recaps Israel’s journey: their failure to trust God when the scouts saw the giants in Canaan, and the resulting rebellion that led to 40 years of wandering; the defeat of King Og; Moses barred from entering the Promised Land; Joshua commissioned to lead the Israelites over the River Jordan.

Day 90 — Tuesday, 3/31 — Deuteronomy 4-6, Psalm 134

• Moses practically begs the Israelites to be obedient to God as they continue their journey into the promised land — warning against idolatry, reminding them God is near to His people, repeating the Ten Commandments, and urging them to teach the faith diligently to future generations.

Day 91 — Wednesday, 4/1 — Deuteronomy 7-10, Psalm 135

• Moses is again reminding the Israelites that they are chosen to inhabit and occupy the promised land — and that they have been chosen not for their greatness but due to God’s love for them. That God will indeed punish those who reject Him. And that they are to destroy idolatrous influences of other nations.

• He encourages them to fight the wicked giants of other nations, and to remain pure of heart by reminding them of the golden calf rebellion, and the renewed covenant on Mount Sinai.

Day 92 — Thursday, 4/2 — Deuteronomy 11-14, Psalm 137

• Moses goes over the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience; reminding the people that their children have not witnessed the glory of the Lord traveling with them via cloud and establishing a relationship with Israel — and that the land will respond to faithfulness.

• Moses again reminds the Israelites to reject pagan worship practices, warns against false prophets, and reiterates the levitical rules about ceremonially clean and unclean animals and that radical loyalty to God is required.

Day 93 — Friday, 4/3 — Deuteronomy 15-18, Psalm 146

• Moses continues to reiterate the levitical rules to be followed: releasing those from debt and slavery in the Sabbath years; caring for the poor; celebrating the major feasts including Passover; laws on justice, kingship, and worship; and a call to living holy in the promised land (in which again we find the Israelites must be directly told not to sacrifice their children or practice witchcraft).

• Moses tells the Israelites a new prophet will be raised up to guide them — foreshadowing Jesus

Day 94 — Saturday, 4/4 — Deuteronomy 19-22, Psalm 147

• Moses describes the events to come: the Lord will destroy the existing nations illicitly living in the Promised Land, after which the Israelites are to establish cities of refuge. He reiterates the laws of justice and warfare, and urges trust in God rather than military strength.

• Moses goes over the various civil laws that provide order to the Israelites and are to be enacted in promised land (unsolved murders, family order); laws on inheritence; laws on community responsibility and sexual ethics; and protection of life and property.

Day 95 — Sunday, 4/5 — Deuteronomy 23-26, Psalm 148

• Deuteronomy 23 opens with pretty specific rules for what I hope was a rare situation in Israel: a man whose testicles were crushed or whose penis was cut off could not be permitted entry to the assembly of the Lord. This was likely about ritualistic purity of some sort of position, but still, wow.

• Moses continues to reiterate the rules that have been established throughout the 40 years of desert wandering: regulations for assembly and camp purity; protection for vulnerable people; laws on divorce, pledges, and justice; care for the poor, widows, and foreigners; fair punishment and economic justice.

• Deuteronomy 25 is straight up funny, out of exactly what circumstances did these rules arise?

• We end this week with Moses once again asking the Israelites to wholeheartedly obey the Lord’s commands.

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This Week

We are reading:

• Numbers 16-36

• Psalms 125-126, 128-132

Summary

This week we finish Numbers.

We have the origin of the infamous red heifer prophecy — a necessary ritual before rebuilding the third temple, rooted in Numbers 19.

We meet Balaam, a pagan prophet who can hear God more clearly than most of the Israelites, and his talking donkey.

We say goodbye to Miriam and Aaron, and are reminded of Joshua.

And Moses finally gets to see the Promised Land — knowing that he will never enter it.

This Bible study is free for everyone, made possible by the support of our paid subscribers.

If you’d like to support us, please consider a paid subscription. Paid subscribers receive:

• Full-length weekly cultural and Biblical deep dives

• The Edit weekly newsletter, and access to all community chats

• The entire archive of content on health and wellness, secret societies, and more (50+ articles)

  Subscribe now

Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 82 — Monday, 3/23 —Numbers 16-18, Psalm 125

• Day 83 — Tuesday, 3/24 — Numbers 19-21, Psalm 126

• Day 84 — Wednesday, 3/25 — Numbers 22-24, Psalm 128

• Day 85 — Thursday, 3/26 — Numbers 25-27, Psalm 129

• Day 86 — Friday, 3/27 — Numbers 28-30, Psalm 130

• Day 87 — Saturday, 3/28 — Numbers 31-33, Psalm 131

• Day 88 — Sunday, 3/29 — Numbers 34-36, Psalm 132

Day 82 — Monday, 3/23 —Numbers 16-18, Psalm 125

• Korah leads a rebellion against Moses and the earth literally opens up and swallows them whole? Lord, I pray you bring upon my enemies this kind of divine judgment 🙏

• The people are still grumbling about Moses and Aaron so God has Moses present a staff from each tribe — and miraculously, Aarons staff sprouts ripe almonds, signifying his authority as a chosen leader

Day 83 — Tuesday, 3/24 — Numbers 19-21, Psalm 126

• We encounter a lot of the “weirder” parts of scripture this week — including the red heifer prophecy. This is one of the Bible’s most cryptic rites. The ashes of the red heifer purify the unclean, however those who prepare it become unclean themselves.

• Miriam dies.

• Water again becomes a prominent storyline. Moses is told by God to impress the ever-complaining Israelites by speaking over a rock and getting water to flow from it — but in frustration, he strikes the rock, and though water flows, it costs him entry into the promised land.

• Aaron dies, before reaching the promised land.

• Then comes yet another strange story: after the Israelites complain about their circumstances yet again, saying they hate manna, fiery serpents overrun the camp. God tells Moses to form a bronze serpent and attach it to a pole. The people are healed of snake bites by looking directly at the image of what afflicts them. Is this the world’s first brush with homeopathy?

• There is mention of The Book of the Wars of the Lord — a lost book of the Bible that I would love to read.

Day 84 — Wednesday, 3/25 — Numbers 22-24, Psalm 128

• The King of Moab, afraid of the Israelites, sends for Balaam to curse them. Balaam, a foreign prophet who is able to perceive God more clearly than Israel, refuses to curse the Israelites as God tells him they have been blessed.

• Not only can Balaam hear God — his donkey clearly sees the Angel of the Lord multiple times. After the third time, God gives the donkey they ability to talk — by unbinding his mouth — seemingly confirming that animals used to be able to talk but are now bound. Balaam then is only able to speak the words the Lord allows to come from his mouth, which again, seems metaphorical.

• Balak, King of Moab, repeatedly tries to get Balaam to curse the Israelites — however, Balaam is constrained and can only bless them as God has.

Day 85 — Thursday, 3/26 — Numbers 25-27, Psalm 129

• Ok, as if the talking donkey wasn’t crazy enough, the Israelites quickly fall into idolatry and sexual deviance as they worshop Baal with the Moabites. God is furious and hits the Israelites with a plague — until Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, drives a spear through an Israelite man and Midianite woman mid-act and stops it — but not before 24,000 people died.

• How do we know 24,000 people died? The census! Which they take again in the wake of this idolatrous destruction — documenting that all the Israelites of Moses and Aaron’s generation have now died off (except Caleb and Joshua), meaning the next generation can now inhabit the promised land.

• Zelophehad’s daughters challenge inheritance laws — and win. Proving that God is a feminist lol jk, He is simply just and fair.

Day 86 — Friday, 3/27 — Numbers 28-30, Psalm 130

• On the precipice of entering the promised land, Moses is given yet another dense set of sacrifice rules.

• Then vows are addressed, particularly those made by women. A father or husband can nullify them — a callback to Adam’s neglected responsibility for Eve.

Day 87 — Saturday, 3/28 — Numbers 31-33, Psalm 131

• Moses is instructed to go to war against the Midianites, as his final earthly battle to lead the Israelites to the promised land. When the Israelite leaders spare the women, Moses tells them not to, since those very women were those that followed Balaam’s teaching to seduce the Israelite men to worship Baal.

Day 88 — Sunday, 3/29 — Numbers 34-36, Psalm 132

• God maps out the promised land in detail — telling Moses the boundaries of the land they are to inhabit, and assigning territories to the tribes.